The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made another public appearance, this time with missile scientists and more honorific titles like her father’s “most cherished” or “most precious” kid. She is just approximately 10 years old, but her fresh, daring photographs are fueling speculation about whether she is being groomed as a potential successor.
The daughter, believed to be Kim’s second child named Ju Ae and approximately 9 or 10 years old, was unveiled to the outside world for the first time last weekend in state media photographs showing her observing the North’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch the day before with her parents and other senior officials. The daughter sporting a white puffy coat and red sneakers was seen strolling hand-in-hand with Kim while seeing a flying weapon.
On Sunday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency acknowledged her for the second time, stating that she and Kim took group shots with scientists, officials, and others engaged in the launch of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.
On its Nov. 19 dispatch, KCNA referred to her as Kim’s “most cherished” or “precious” kid, a more prestigious designation than her earlier designation as “(Kim’s) adored” child. State-issued photographs depicted the daughter wearing a long black coat and grasping her father’s arm while posing for a portrait. Taking after her mother Ri Sol Ju, who was not seen in any of the images taken on Sunday, she appeared more mature than when she was unveiled a week prior.
North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency posted an undated photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter participating in a photo session with officials engaged in the launching of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile on November 27, 2022. KCNA via Reuters
Some photographs depicted the couple in the center of a line of uniformed troops in front of a big missile mounted on a launch truck. Others depicted Kim’s daughter clapping her hands, exchanging handshakes with a soldier, or conversing with her father over background cheers.
“This is really remarkable. The photograph of Kim Ju Ae standing alongside her father and being congratulated by technicians and scientists involved in the most recent ICBM launch lends credence to the notion that she is beginning to be positioned as a potential successor “Expert from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ankit Panda stated.
“I believe that the state media’s emphasis on her father’s affection for her supports this notion. The crown jewels of North Korea’s national defense capabilities, both of her early public appearances have been in relation to strategic nuclear weapons. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me “Panda replied.
After her first public appearance, South Korea’s intelligence agency informed legislators that the girl shown is Kim’s second kid, Ju Ae, who is around 10 years old. According to the National Intelligence Service, her appearance matches the fact that she is taller and larger than other girls her age. It was also stated that her unveiling appeared to symbolize Kim’s determination to defend the security of future generations of North Koreans in the face of a stalemate with the United States.
Previously, South Korean media claimed that Kim had three children, born in 2010, 2013, and 2017, with the first being a male and the third a daughter. The revealed daughter is presumably the same youngster that veteran NBA player Dennis Rodman met in Pyongyang in 2013. Rodman said the British newspaper The Guardian that he and Kim spent “relaxing time by the sea” with the leader’s family, and that he held Kim’s infant daughter, Ju Ae.
North Korea has not mentioned Kim’s alleged two other children. Given the strongly patriarchal and male-dominated structure of North Korean society, several observers question how a girl can be Kim’s successor if his first kid is believed to be a man. Kim is a third-generation member of the dynasty that has ruled North Korea for more than seven decades; his father and grandfather before him in assuming power in late 2011.
“Kim reportedly has three children, including a possible son. If this is true, and if we assume that the unidentified male kid will be the heir, is Ju Ae actually Kim’s most “valuable” child in terms of succession?” Soo Kim, a security analyst at the RAND Corporation in California, stated as much. I believe that it is too soon to draw any judgments.
“the spectacle of Ju Ae appears to overshadow the rising seriousness of North Korea’s nuclear and missile danger,” she stated. She noted that by parading his daughter around, Kim Jong Un may also be trying to convey to his people that nuclear weapons are the country’s last hope for the future.
In remarks broadcast by official media on Sunday, Kim referred to the Hwasong-17 as “the world’s most powerful strategic weapon” and stated that the ultimate objective of his nation is to acquire “the world’s most powerful strategic force.”
The Hwasong-17 is North Korea’s longest-range missile, meant to target the U.S. mainland, although it is still in development, according to experts. It was part of a barrage of missile tests that North Korea claims were intended as a warning against U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it perceives as an invasion rehearsal.
“Kim may be communicating to other North Korean elites that he is grooming his daughter for a leadership position,” said Professor Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha University in Seoul.
“Giving her such an early and public start is rare, but it underlines the historical and political importance Kim places on a nuclear missile capable of reaching the United States,” he added.
Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, stated that Kim Jong Un cannot appoint his son as his successor if he lacks leadership. Kim most likely accompanied his daughter to the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to ensure the smooth transfer of public support from himself to his daughter, as suggested by Cheong.
Cheong stated, “When a monarch has numerous offspring, it is normal for him to appoint his favorite as his successor.” Kim Ju Ae is anticipated to attend succession training and occasionally attend Kim Jong Un’s public events.
Foreign observers were stunned by the revelation of the juvenile Ju Ae, given both Kim Jong Un and his father Kim Jong Il were first referenced in state media dispatches as adults. Kim Jong Il had Kim Jong Un in mind as his succession when his son was 8 years old, according to Cheong. Cheong referenced his discussions with Kim Jong Un’s aunt and her defecting American spouse.
The reason that the South Korean intelligence agency stated that Ju Ae is around 10 years old despite supposedly being born in 2013 may be due to the country’s age-calculating method, which normally adds one or two years to people’s ages.
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