North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled into Beijing by armoured train on Tuesday, ahead of a huge military parade celebrating the end of World War II the next day.

He is expected to use the trip to hold face-to-face meetings with both the Chinese and Russian presidents.

AFP breaks down why this visit is so significant:

- A rare outing -

Since he came to power in 2011, Kim has only made a handful of known trips outside North Korea's borders.

China is the country he has visited most -- four times previously -- and he has travelled to Russia twice.

His most adventurous travel came seven years ago, when he met US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June 2018, followed by another summit in Hanoi in early 2019.

Kim has also travelled twice to the Joint Security Area at the border of No

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