The news that Kim Jong Un had on Monday flown to Dalian, China for a summit with PRC President Xi Jinping came as a surprise to many. Kim’s second meeting with the Chinese leader this year comes on the heels of last month’s historic inter-Korean summit and amid a flurry of diplomacy in the run-up to talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.

That the North Korean leader had chosen to sit down once again with Xi – having spent the first six years of his rule avoiding all contact with foreign leaders – is in itself