Kim ramps up diplomacy with appearance at Beijing parade

The North Korean leader stands with China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin

- By Max Kim

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin, right, sees off North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after talks in Beijing.

At a military parade in Beijing featuring China's _ next-generation weaponry, another momentous scene was on display: Chinese President Xi Jinping standing side by side with Russian President Viadimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Their joint appearance on Wednesday at a parade commemorating the end of World War II, is the first time that the leaders of the three countries have appeared together in public. It comes amid growing concern about the increasing collaboration of the “axis of upheaval,” a term that denotes China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea and their opposition to the U.S.-led world order.

It marks Kim's first foray into multilateral diplomacy since assuming power in 2011. While in the past the reclusive leader has tended to avoid overseas trips due to security concerns, he arrived Tuesday in Beijing on a heavily armored train known as “The Sun,” stepping out to a welcome that even Kims grandfather Kim 11 Sung didn’t get as the last North Korean leader to attend the Victory Day parade in 1959.