A top North Korean official, Choe Ryong-hae, will visit China early next month to attend events marking the end of World War II, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said Tuesday.

Choe is among the foreign guests to attend the Sept. 3 events, Zhang told reporters. It is unclear whether Choe, considered third-in-command behind North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, will attend a huge military parade on Sept. 3.

The planned visit by Choe to China comes as political ties between Pyongyang and Beijing remain strained over North Korea's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons and wayward behavior.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye will also visit Beijing for the events, but it remains undecided whether Park will attend the military parade.

During a joint press conference with Zhang, Qu Rui, deputy director of the Office of the Parade Leading Team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said South Korea will send a high-level military delegation to the upcoming military parade.

South Korea is among 31 nations that will send "high-level military delegations to China to attend the parade," Qu said.

North Korea is not among the countries that will send troops or military delegations to the Chinese parade.

About 12,000 Chinese troops and soldiers from 11 nations, including Russia, as well as 200 aircraft will take part in the military parade.

The Sept. 3 event is expected to demonstrate China's fast-growing military capabilities, while highlighting a rivalry between China and Japan.

It also comes as neighboring countries of China keep a wary eye on Beijing's increasingly assertive actions in disputed waters, including the South China Sea, sparking a series of diplomatic rows with neighbors like the Philippines and Vietnam. China is also engaged in a bitter dispute with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea. (Yonhap)