North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left himself vulnerable to something that’s unheard of in his own country when he attended China’s massive military parade on Wednesday — playing second fiddle.

The Beijing event marked his debut at a large-scale multilateral event, providing the chance to rub shoulders with the heads of both great powers and lesser states.

But it also marked a sharp contrast from past one-on-one summits where he was the star of the show, as well as from life in the DPRK where he is the central figure in all domains.

Despite this, experts told NK News