Kim Jong Un inspects ballistic missiles, reveals daughter to the world

The world was introduced to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter on Saturday in images of the two inspecting the launch of the nation’s biggest ballistic missile the day before.

State news agency KCNA stated on Saturday that North Korea tested a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday.

The biggest shock, though, was the presence of Kim’s daughter, whose existence had never before been made known to the general public.

The girl, who can be seen in photos holding hands with her father and wearing a white puffy coat as they observe the enormous rocket, was unidentified by KCNA.

“This is the first observed occasion where we have seen Kim Jong Un’s daughter at a public event” Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the U.S.-based Stimson Center. “It is highly significant and represents a certain degree of comfort on Kim Jong Un’s part that he would bring her out in public in such fashion.”

According to experts, Kim might be the father of two girls and a boy. Some viewers thought they saw one of the kids on a video of a national holiday celebration in September.

Dennis Rodman, a retired American basketball player, said in 2013 that Kim had a daughter named Ju Ae. Rodman told The Guardian newspaper that year that he had visited North Korea and met Kim and his family, as well as cradled the infant.

Ju Ae is believed to be between the ages of 12 and 13, which implies that in four or five years she will be prepared to either enter the military or attend university, according to Madden.

“This would indicate that she will be educated and trained to go into leadership — it could be preparing for her to assume the central leader’s position or she could become an adviser and behind-the-scenes player like her aunt,” he said.

Given the lack of information regarding Kim’s young children and the fact that North Korea has never stated who would succeed him in the event of his incapacitation, observers had hypothesised that his sister and supporters would act as a regency until a successor is old enough to ascend the throne.

The leader’s daughter attending this gathering might indicate a fourth-generation hereditary succession, and the core North Korean elites should be ready for that possibility, Madden said.

“Her presence is for an elite audience,” he said.