North Korean leader Kim Jong Un embarked on his first diplomatic trip abroad since the start of the pandemic on Sept. 10, boarding his private armored train and setting off for Russia for a summit with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Over the next week, he traveled more than 4,000 km by rail and visited four different cities during a grand odyssey across the Russian Far East, holding talks with multiple top officials and touring everything from Russia’s newest spaceport and a factory producing advanced jets to Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

The visit underscored just how much