It’s hard to believe that less than a year ago, President Park Geun-hye, who visited China for its Victory Day military parade – much to the chagrin of Washington, had been given the red carpet treatment. She was one of only two world leaders to be seated right next to President Xi Jinping; the other being Vladimir Putin.

Also notable was the fact that she was the only head of state of a major U.S. ally that attended that parade. In fact, South Korean media at the time made a big deal of showing how much President Park was treated like the belle of the ball whereas North Korea’s official, Choe Ryong Hae, was treated like a wedding guest whom no one would have noticed had he not shown up.