‘I thought it was very, very impressive, but I understood the reason they were doing it.’

While Xi and Putin blabbered about immortality, Kim appeared to be smiling and enjoying the parade.

Kim Jong-un’s daughter – often seen as the frontrunner to become North Korea’s next leader – has made her international debut.

The dictator and his daughter Kim Ju-ae arrived in China’s capital of Beijing last night for the military parade in Tienanmen Square today.

Her presence is a big deal – considering that until three years ago, she had not been publicly introduced.

But the North Korean leader may be looking to present the teenager to his allies as his successor for when he eventually decides to step down.

After the special train carrying ​Kim’s entourage pulled into Beijing Railway Station,​ Ju-ae stood close to him as he was greeted by Chinese officials​, according to photos released by North Korean state media.

It is the first known international appearance by the girl, who has attended multiple weapons tests in North Korea alongside her father.

In fact, Ju-ae was first introduced into the world when she accompanied him to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But it was the former American NBA star Dennis Rodman who first slipped up about her existence after travelling to the recluse nation.

According to Rodman, during his 2013 visit to Pyongyang, Kim introduced him to his wife Ri Sol Ju and a baby girl, saying ‘that’s my daughter.’

State media have never identified her by name, but South Korean intelligence says she is Ju-ae, the daughter of Kim and his wife, who they believe married in 2009.

In recent years, North Korean state media have referred to her as the ‘the beloved child,’ or ‘the esteemed child’.

Also in state media, North Korean adults have been shown bowing deeply before her.

At recent public appearances, she has often walked ahead of both her aunt – powerful regime spokeswoman Kim Yo Jong – and mother, linking arms with her father, whispering to him, and holding hands.

South Korean analysts have said that Kim appears to be grooming her as an heir.

But others disagree, citing his relative young age – just 41 – and the extremely male-dominated nature of North Korea’s power hierarchy.

Since its foundation in 1948, the country has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family: Kim’s father Kim Jong Il and his grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung.

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Kim Jong-un’s paranoia was on full display after a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of China’s World War II military parade.

Even surrounded by allies, like the Russian president, North Korea’s leader is going to extraordinary lengths to protect himself while travelling abroad.

Footage shared on a Russian Telegram channel showed staff ‘destroying’ all traces that the dictator had attended the bilateral talks in Beijing. 

They were seen taking away the glass he drank from and vigorously wiping down his seat and every part of furniture he had touched with wet wipes.

The most colourful explanation to the weird behaviour is Kim’s persecution complex.

Whatever the exact reason, the leader has long feared high-ranking traitors and defectors, and has faced multiple assassination plots – one allegedly organised by the CIA.

Less than a year ago, in October, the South Korean National Intelligence Service told parliament that Kim’s security detail had expanded its efforts to protect him, including by using communication-jamming devices and drone detection equipment.

The spy agency did not cite a specific threat against Kim – but noted that despite threats to his safety, he has been making more frequent public appearances.

In his own country, his appearances are normally carefully managed, with any foreigners present forced to go through hours-long security checks beforehand.

The exact security operation around Kim’s trip to Beijing remains veiled, but it is expected that he is flanked by security at all times.

Joined by Putin, he travelled from a formal reception to the negotiations in the same car, the Kremlin said in a post on social media.

After a bilateral meeting between Russian and North Korean delegations, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting. 

Putin also invited Kim to visit Russia again, following on from the North Korean leader’s last visit to the country in 2023.

Speaking in front of journalists as the talks began, Putin praised the bravery and heroism of North Korean soldiers who fought alongside his own troops to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last year.

It has also sent large quantities of military equipment, including ballistic missiles and artillery, to help fuel Putin’s three-year invasion of Ukraine.

In his opening remarks, Kim said that cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has ‘significantly strengthened’ since the two countries signed a strategic partnership pact in June last year during a summit in the North Korean capital.

Although he did not specifically mention the war, Kim stressed that ‘if there is anything I can do for you and the people of Russia, if there is more that needs to be done, I will consider it as a fraternal duty, an obligation that we surely need to bear, and will be prepared to do everything possible to help.’

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The train is called Taeyangho meaning ‘Sun Train’ and has been described as a mobile fortress on rails.

Rehearsals for the event in Beijing showed the new weapon mounted on an eight-wheeled truck (Picture: X)

A new weapon dubbed ‘the most powerful laser air defence system in the world’ is expected to be unveiled in China tomorrow…

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North Korea’s supreme leader got sprinkled.

North Korea has said Donald Trump’s new dystopian ‘Golden Dome’ could turn outer space into a ‘nuclear war field’.

Kim Jong Un watched in embarrassment as North Korea’s second naval destroyer capsized during a failed water launch this week.