Kim's China visit marks shift from pariah to confident diplomat

Kim Jong Un put on a command performance this week at a gathering of some two dozen world leaders in China, striding with confidence and a broad grin across one of the biggest international stages of his 14-year career as North Korea's leader.

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As Kim returns home Friday, his time in Beijing marks a stunning transformation from his first tentative, violent years in power, when some analysts suggested the inexperienced young leader would struggle to survive threats to his rule.

Serious diplomacy with a large group of leaders was unimaginable.

But in Beijing, Kim looked like the leader his propaganda services have constantly sought to portray: an important, crucial, even player in world affairs, entirely at home with the biggest hitters in Eurasia. Beginning in 2018, when he and U.S. President Donald Trump held the first of their much-publicized meetings, Kim has emerged as a far different, far more confident leader than when he was thrust into power after his father's death in 2011.