WAR veterans from the former Soviet Union joined National Liberation Day celebrations in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang today to mark the Korean peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

North Korea’s first president Kim Il Sung, known as the supreme leader, served as a major in the Soviet Red Army, commanding Korean patriotic forces in its ranks and leading them home to declare Korea’s liberation in 1945.

Yesterday’s celebrations included an under-15 football youth tournament in Pyongyang featuring players from several countries. In the opening game a North Korean team prevailed over its southern compatriots.

People also gathered, as is customary, by statues of the country’s leaders or other monuments to observe the anniversary.

North Korean state news agency KCNA highlighted a message from the Kremlin saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet current leader Kim Jong Un soon and to discuss three-way projects with both Korean states.

President Putin voiced his confidence that North Korea, South Korea and Russia can work together on joint projects in “mutually beneficial co-operation.”

He also said he would be willing to meet Mr Kim “soon” to discuss urgent issues, both bilateral and regional. No specific date has been set.

The Russian leader had earlier invited Mr Kim to visit Russia, floating the idea of the North’s leader visiting Vladivostok for an economic forum in September or coming for a stand-alone visit.

National Liberation Day is the only holiday that both Koreas celebrate on the same day.

South Korean President Moon Jae In marked the occasion by calling for transport, economic and energy co-operation between the two states.

“Even though a political unification may be a long way from here, establishing peace between the South and the North and freely visiting each other and forming a joint economic community is true liberation to us,” he said in a televised address.

The two Korean leaders agreed at a summit in April to work towards formally ending the Korean War by the end of the year.

The conflict, in which nearly three million soldiers and civilians perished, was suspended by an armistice agreement in 1953.