Kim Jung Un put the daughter front and center at the banquet
A daughter of Kim Jung Un and her father invited to a banquet at a barracks: Signal of the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army
A child thought to be Kim Jung Un’s daughter was brought to a banquet at a military barracks, the latest sign the girl might be groomed as his eventual successor in the family regime.
The girl – believed to be Kim’s second child, Ju Ae, who is around 9 years old – and her father were joined by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, in the visit to the barracks and subsequent banquet to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), state media reported Wednesday.
Military officials at the banquet were treated to seeing Kim and his daughter, according to a report from the Korean Central News Agency.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed the girl next to Kim and her mother as they entered the venue for the banquet while military officers applauded.
In a country where the Kim family and the military are all powerful, a presence of the girl in an important event sends a clear signal.
“By ostentatiously including his wife and daughter, Kim wants observers at home and abroad to see his family dynasty and the North Korean military as irrevocably linked,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
It is necessary to pay careful attention to the way this affects North Korea’s domestic and foreign policy in the mid- to long-term.
According to a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, the North Korean state media published a story about the picture of Kim and his daughter later that month.
His son took charge of the country after he died. After the death of his father, Kim Jong Un assumed control of the country in December 2011.
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While the Kim regime has held previous such banquets for the military, pictures from Tuesday’s event depicted a more splashy setting than has been seen before.
Kim spoke at the banquet and praised the military without mentioning the United States or South Korea.
Analysts are expecting to see examples of missiles when an event begins late Wednesday night.
She saw at least 11 intercontinental missiles being paraded through a park in the North Korean capital.
American basketball star Dennis Rodman revealed Kim had a baby called Ju Ae when he visited Pyongyang in 2013, telling The Guardian afterward, “I held their baby Ju Ae and spoke with (Kim’s wife) as well.”
Cheong said he’s convinced the girl’s appearance at recent events and how she is referred to in state-run media show she is being primed to succeed her father.
Her recent appearances may simply be a way to redirect the world’s attention back to Pyongyang’s military after audience fatigue set in following a year of record missile testing, said Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean general.
The North Koreans have probably stumbled upon a way of getting international attention. And so with all the interest that is accumulating, they’re enjoying themselves,” he said.
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“Throughout their seven-decade history, their successors have always been a mystery to us. Is it possible that they changed the mode of operation? She is not the successor if I bet $5.
While there’s still plenty of debate about Ju Ae, there’s little doubt about her father’s wish to have enough military might to keep his family in power.
Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on social media that if each of those missiles was equipped with multiple nuclear warheads, they could overwhelm US ballistic missile defenses.
Following the Hwasong-17s in Wednesday night’s parade were examples of what analysts believe could be a solid-fueled ICBM, a step up in technology from the liquid-fueled Hwasong-17.
South Korea’s top intelligence agency said on Tuesday that Kim has three children, one of which is a boy.
The second child’s repeated appearances in public in recent months led to questions about the dynastic ruler’s children.
She has made six more appearances in the last three months. She attended multiple events, including a banquet with top defense officials, a military parade, a groundbreaking ceremony for a construction site and a sports event. stamps with pictures of her and her dad were made by North Korea.
The leader’s private life is intensely guarded and rarely shown in public in the country that has Ju Ae.
State media has not published her name yet. But in its reports, Ju Ae is often pictured at the center, right beside the leader Kim. The media uses the respectful form of speech and expressions like “beloved” and “respected” child to address her.
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The child, who hasn’t even reached her teens, looked and sounded like she was being taken care of to become the country’s fourth-generation leader.
Some other experts and the South Korean government are more cautious, saying that North Korea would not risk exposing its future leader at such a young age and that she only serves to present Kim Jong Un as a loving father and to strengthen the myth of the Kim bloodline.
But a more crucial counterargument is that Ju Ae is a daughter. South Korea’s Unification Ministry and the spy agency NIS both cited North Korea’s patriarchal culture as a reason they are unsure about her status.
Lawmakers who attended a closed meeting of the parliamentary intelligence committee heard Tuesday that the NIS still believes that Kim has a son based on intelligence, even though it doesn’t have concrete evidence.
