The Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping on Thursday held a massive military parade featuring the latest weaponry and military hardware of the People’s Liberation Army to commemorate what Beijing calls the 70th anniversary of victory in its war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

The South Korean president has risked a close relationship with the United States by traveling to the Chinese capital for 70th anniversary celebrations of Japan’s World War II defeat. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had declared a “semi-state of war” and ordered his troops to be “battle ready” if the South did not shut down loudspeaker broadcasts of music, news, and commentary poking fun at the North Korea leader.

China has pressured North Korea not to stage a fourth nuclear test even as North Korea’s relations with China have soured. “In context, this can be understood as a request for North Korea not to carry out a nuclear test or to launch a missile”, said Kim Chang-soo, head of research at the Korea National Strategy Institute.

“When North Korea demanded an end to the U.S.-South joint drills, [Kim] was spurred to place the USA ambassador in personal danger”, South Korean prosecutors said.

China-South Korea bilateral trade reached 500 billion yuan (US$79 billion) in 2014, with South Korea receiving a trade surplus in excess of 100 billion yuan (US$16 billion). In response, South Korea’s unification ministry said this was not the time to be quarrelling over the agreement.

A South Korean government spokesman made no secret of President Park’s intentions in coming to the parade when he said, “President Park’s decision took into account friendly cooperation ties with our neighboring countries“. People’s Daily noted that Park brought South Korea’s “largest-ever business delegation to China” on this trip, with “156 business executives and representatives of economic organizations” coming with her to Beijing and Shanghai.

Discussions of North Korea figured prominently in Park’s meeting with Xi.

Park told Xi she appreciated China’s help in defusing tension with North Korea that had pushed the neighbours to the brink of conflict.

According to a report carried by local news agency Yonhap, the 3-meter-long (10 foot) unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted over a South Korean military outpost just hours before the two sides held talks.

© KCNA KCNA / Reuters/REUTERS North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un speaks at an emergency meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Military Commission in Pyongyang. Pyongyang denied any role in the incident. “We are thankful to our old friends”, she said. President Park’s participation in the parade is understood as a profession of her determination to expand our diplomatic space in the region on our own without being squeezed between America and China.

In early August, two South Korean soldiers were maimed by the explosion of landmines, which Seoul claimed had been planted by North Korean forces.