30 June 2026
Vassal no more: Kim Jong-un's body language with Xi, Putin says he's one of the big boys now Related Article
Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea
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A close reading of Kim Jong-un's body language and rhetoric shows how North Korea's leader rebounded from the 2019 Hanoi summit collapse to gain new leverage with China and Russia, reshaping South Korea's security environment.
[A STUDY OF KIM JONG-UN 10]
Feb. 28, 2019, is a day North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will never forget. It is the date of the "no deal Hanoi summit," in which U.S. President Donald Trump walked out of negotiations in Vietnam, an insult the North Korean leader had never experienced before. Could Kim himself have ever imagined that, just over six years later, he would stand shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of China and Russia at the viewing gallery of Tiananmen Square in Beijing in September last year?
Kim's elevated strategic status is a reality. He is no longer in a hurry. Even if Trump sends another overture, his new position would be to casually ignore it. How did the young leader of Northeast Asia's poorest nation, once treated merely as a joke, reach his current position? What choices did Kim make to overcome the failure of the Hanoi summit, and how has North Korea changed as a result of those choices? How has this change altered South Korea's security environment? We must now deal with a Kim of a different caliber. That is why we must study him now. - Ed.
It was China's massive Victory Day celebration at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 3 last year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin stood side by side on the rostrum overlooking the 80th anniversary ceremony.
Kim, finally taking the spot where his grandfather, a figure regarded almost as god-like in North Korea, had stood more than 70 years earlier, must have — in a single breath — felt the passage of eras.
Progressives blame Yoon Suk Yeol for North Korea's hostility. But the enmity goes back further.
Bright lights, red city: North Korean leader Kim keeps Pyongyang lit while the rest of the country remains in darkness
'Arms ablaze, they still charged': Ukrainian forces stunned by North Korea's 'meat assaults'
As Kim Jong-un extends one hand, he beckons with the other for nuclear development
Foreign media also took note of Kim standing as an equal alongside Xi and Putin.
Bloomberg assessed that Kim's presence "marks another milestone in his transformation from isolated pariah to a global player benefiting from strengthened ties with his allies."
Within the existing framework of North Korea-China-Russia solidarity, North Korea had been more of a dependent variable, buffeted by the strategic decisions of China and Russia. But now it has reinvented itself as an equal partner, shouldering one of the pillars of an anti-American coalition.
What was particularly striking was the moment Kim gestured toward Xi and struck up a conversation as the DF-61 (Dongfeng-61) intercontinental ballistic missile passed during the military parade — a scene that encapsulated how dramatically Kim's standing had shifted in just a few years. Had it been the deferential Kim Jong-un of 2018, when inter-Korean, North Korea-U.S. and trilateral summits were in full swing, such an attitude toward Xi would have been unimaginable.
In just seven years, everything about Kim Jong-un's demeanor toward Xi Jinping had changed — down to where his eyes focused and what they conveyed.
Kim was saying with his body that he would no longer stand behind anyone or cast his eyes downward before them.
An analysis of six North Korea-China summits found unmistakable shifts in the way Kim carries himself before Xi.
Kim Yeo-jeong, CEO of Jium & Gitdeum, a personal branding research institute specializing in nonverbal behavior, assessed that "Kim Jong-un's attitude toward Xi has gradually shifted from a junior seeking support to an equal strategic partner."
From behind Xi to beside him
The JoongAng Ilbo, together with Jium & Gitdeum, conducted a focused analysis of the interactions between the two leaders across six summits — begi...
[A STUDY OF KIM JONG-UN 10]
Feb. 28, 2019, is a day North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will never forget. It is the date of the "no deal Hanoi summit," in which U.S. President Donald Trump walked out of negotiations in Vietnam, an insult the North Korean leader had never experienced before. Could Kim himself have ever imagined that, just over six years later, he would stand shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of China and Russia at the viewing gallery of Tiananmen Square in Beijing in September last year?
Kim's elevated strategic status is a reality. He is no longer in a hurry. Even if Trump sends another overture, his new position would be to casually ignore it. How did the young leader of Northeast Asia's poorest nation, once treated merely as a joke, reach his current position? What choices did Kim make to overcome the failure of the Hanoi summit, and how has North Korea changed as a result of those choices? How has this change altered South Korea's security environment? We must now deal with a Kim of a different caliber. That is why we must study him now. - Ed.
It was China's massive Victory Day celebration at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 3 last year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin stood side by side on the rostrum overlooking the 80th anniversary ceremony.
Kim, finally taking the spot where his grandfather, a figure regarded almost as god-like in North Korea, had stood more than 70 years earlier, must have — in a single breath — felt the passage of eras.
Progressives blame Yoon Suk Yeol for North Korea's hostility. But the enmity goes back further.
Bright lights, red city: North Korean leader Kim keeps Pyongyang lit while the rest of the country remains in darkness
'Arms ablaze, they still charged': Ukrainian forces stunned by North Korea's 'meat assaults'
As Kim Jong-un extends one hand, he beckons with the other for nuclear development
Foreign media also took note of Kim standing as an equal alongside Xi and Putin.
Bloomberg assessed that Kim's presence "marks another milestone in his transformation from isolated pariah to a global player benefiting from strengthened ties with his allies."
Within the existing framework of North Korea-China-Russia solidarity, North Korea had been more of a dependent variable, buffeted by the strategic decisions of China and Russia. But now it has reinvented itself as an equal partner, shouldering one of the pillars of an anti-American coalition.
What was particularly striking was the moment Kim gestured toward Xi and struck up a conversation as the DF-61 (Dongfeng-61) intercontinental ballistic missile passed during the military parade — a scene that encapsulated how dramatically Kim's standing had shifted in just a few years. Had it been the deferential Kim Jong-un of 2018, when inter-Korean, North Korea-U.S. and trilateral summits were in full swing, such an attitude toward Xi would have been unimaginable.
In just seven years, everything about Kim Jong-un's demeanor toward Xi Jinping had changed — down to where his eyes focused and what they conveyed.
Kim was saying with his body that he would no longer stand behind anyone or cast his eyes downward before them.
An analysis of six North Korea-China summits found unmistakable shifts in the way Kim carries himself before Xi.
Kim Yeo-jeong, CEO of Jium & Gitdeum, a personal branding research institute specializing in nonverbal behavior, assessed that "Kim Jong-un's attitude toward Xi has gradually shifted from a junior seeking support to an equal strategic partner."
From behind Xi to beside him
The JoongAng Ilbo, together with Jium & Gitdeum, conducted a focused analysis of the interactions between the two leaders across six summits — begi...