Experts say the image of Kim and her daughter is for the elite and could symbolize Kim preparing her daughter to be the next supreme leader STR/AFP – Getty Images
STR / AFP – Getty Images
One new ballistic missile with the reach of the entire United States is a difficult thing to overcome. But North Korea leader Kim Jong Un did it with an unexpected guest in the test launch: his little-known daughter.
Kim revealed her daughter to the world for the first time on Saturday in pictures showing the pair hand in hand at the rocket launch site, a surprise appearance that raises the possibility that the fourth generation of Kim will assumed leadership of the clandestine state – and it developed a nuclear arsenal.
North Korean state media said Mr Kim observed the launch of a new state intercontinental ballistic missile with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, other officials and his “loving daughter” on Friday. .
Kim said the launch of the nuclear-capable Hwasong-17 missile proved he had a reliable weapon to contain. US-led military threatsand the United States responded by flying supersonic bombers in a show of force.
It was the latest escalation in months of provocations from Pyongyang, but attention was suddenly focused on the daughter whose existence had never been publicly confirmed before.
North Korea’s Rodong Simmun newspaper revealed a series of photos of Kim and his daughter wearing white life jackets and red shoes to watch with their father from afar.
State media did not name the girl or reveal her age. It is the first time that a child of the North Korean leader has been confirmed in public, whose personal life is still shrouded in mystery.
North Korean state media said Mr Kim attended the rocket launch with his wife and “loving daughter”.
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Kim Jong Un, 38, is the third generation of the Kim dynasty to rule the reclusive country but has not yet publicly declared an heir, making the identities of his children a source of strong attraction from outside. Kim is said to have three children, born between 2010 and 2017, with his wife Ri, a former singer.
Retired in 2013 Basketball star Dennis Rodman said Kim has a “baby” daughter named Ju Ae, with whom he spent time on a beach vacation with Kim’s family. It is not clear which children appear in the photos.
“This is the first time we’ve seen Kim Jong Un’s daughter at a public event,” Michael Madden, an expert on North Korean leadership at the Stimson Center, told Reuters. “It makes a lot of sense for him to take her out in public in such a way and shows a certain degree of comfort on the part of Kim Jong Un.”
Some analysts say that tying his daughter so closely to the development of the country’s nuclear program is the latest signal to the world that North Korea has no plans to give up its arsenal. .
Jenny Town of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea research organization, said the images were “the optics of passing on a legacy”.
“For those who think #North Korea just raising the stakes to rejoin the talks, which seems to suggest otherwise. Just like the claims about the nuclear program are no longer conditional — this seems to reinforce the nuclear program is still here,” she said.
Friday’s launch was North Korea’s eighth ICBM launch this year, as the country’s leader pledged a “stronger” military response to the growing US military presence in the region.
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However, there may also be a domestic purpose behind the big reveal.
“Even his wife and especially his daughter ‘soften’ the image, at least [maybe] for a domestic audience,” John Delury, a professor of China Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, wrote on Twitter, “This is not a belligerent or narcissistic Little Rocket Man. He was a good father, protecting his family, just like he protected the Nation,” Delury said.
The Kim family’s cult of personality has long depended on the image of the supreme leaders as the nation’s “fathers”. Propaganda images of Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, often depict him alongside children. Children’s sweets and treats are usually distributed on the leader’s birthday, if resources permit.
However, Kim Jong Un rarely mentions his family.
In 2020, American officials and South Korean media speculated that Kim had experienced a period of sickness after undergoing heart surgery. North Korea has never announced who will spy on Kim if he becomes incapacitated, with analysts theorizing that his sister and loyalists could form a regency until His immediate successor is big enough to take over.
Madden told Reuters that bringing his daughter to the missile test site was a move for an “elite audience”, potentially showcasing the fourth generation of hereditary succession.
Kim and his daughter, whose name and age have not been released, watched the rocket soar from a safe distance together.
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The rocket was launched on Friday and later another failed launch in early November. On Thursday, the North declared a “more intense” military response to Washington’s enhanced security presence in the region.
The Japanese defense minister said that the missile is capable of reaching anywhere in the United States.
Vice president Kamala Harriswho was in Bangkok to attend a regional forum, said the launch was a “flagrant violation” of United Nations Security Council resolutions and called on North Korea to “stop its unlawful destabilizing actions.” more law.”
Friday’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch was North Korea’s eighth ICBM launch this year, according to the US State Department.
South Korean and US officials now say North Korea is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017 and a significant escalation of tensions with Washington and its allies. bright.
