It's been an unusual week in China. President Xi Jinping met with leaders from Russia's Vladimir Putin to India's Narendra Modi, and hosted a massive military parade. But in parts of the Asia Pacific, there was a focus on another visitor.
When Kim Jong Un showed up in Beijing this week, it marked the first time in 45 years that a North Korean leader attended a multilateral summit.
Ever since his arrival, South Korean media have been full of analysis and speculation about what that may mean for the future of Chinese relations with neighboring North Korea.
The Korea Times reported the visit “signaled a thaw in relations between the two countries, which had grown strained in recent years.”
It noted that Kim was “conversing at length” with Chinese President Xi Jinping — in “a display of unusually close interaction compared to his previous appearances.”
Yonhap News reports South Korea's presidential office is “watching the situation closely as the international landscape is highly complex.”
Even the clothing of the North Korean leader has come under examination.
The Joong Ang Daily noted that Kim Jong Un dropped his usual “socialist attire” for a Western-style business suit at the military parade — in what it called “an apparent move to project the image of a 'normal state leader.'”
And then there was a focus on his 12-year-old daughter, Kim Ju Ae, who came along for the visit — sparking speculation that she may be designated as Kim's successor.
