SEOUL | The Kims, fourth generation. The North Korean leader appeared alongside his daughter for the first time in official photographs released on Saturday, once again confirming the dynastic vision he holds for his country, experts say.
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This is an extremely rare occurrence.
The official state agency KCNA had never mentioned the children of Kim Jong Un until then. The North Korean regime has never even confirmed the existence of a family of the leader.
But on Saturday, for the first time, KCNA reported that Kim had traveled to the launch of his latest intercontinental ballistic missile the day before, accompanied by his “beloved wife and (his) daughter.” No age details were given.
In the photos, the leader appears smiling, holding the hand of a young girl dressed in a white puffer jacket and red shoes, both walking in front of a gigantic white and black missile.
Kim Jong Un, grandson of North Korea’s founding father Kim Il Sung and his family’s third generation to rule the country, married Ri Sol Ju in 2009, according to South Korean intelligence.
She gave birth to their first child the following year, the second and third were born in 2013 and in 2017, the same source said, without specifying the gender of these children.
One of the only confirmations of the leader’s children curiously comes from a visit by NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited North Korea in 2013. He claimed to have during that visit met a daughter of Kim, Ju Ae.
The North Korean leader is “a good father,” Rodman said at the time.
Identity revealed
The girl appearing in the photos is probably this same Ju Ae, speculates with AFP Cheong Seong-hang, North expert at the Sejong institute in South Korea. She is the equivalent of a North Korean “princess”, he believes.
Now that her existence has been revealed, she will likely be able to participate in state affairs, Cheong Seong-hang continues. The fact that she publicly stands by her father could further indicate that she has been chosen as his successor.
Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, had chosen him to be his successor among his children because he was most like him in personality and temperament, Cheong said.
“Kim Jong Un might want to do the same with this particular girl. Maybe she has the qualities that Kim thinks are hers,” he said, adding that if she continued to accompany her father to important events, it would probably be a sign that he considers her his. raises.
Since the beginning of the year, North Korea has carried out a record series of test firings of its ballistic missiles.
And the ICBM launched on Friday likely has the range to hit the continental United States, according to reports from neighboring Japan.
next generation
Presenting Kim’s young daughter to the public at this precise moment is therefore not insignificant. It is a message to the world that the North Korean regime is not ready to disappear, analyst Soo Kim told AFP.
“In a way, this is a symbolic photo of Kim passing on the scepter of power to the next generation,” she says, which sends “a message to the international community to accept the fourth iteration of terror and belligerence” on the part of Pyongyang, and “to prepare for it”.
The photos also suggest “a degree of closeness and comfort between Kim and her daughter,” Soo Kim adds, which she says could indicate she’s primed to take over after her father.
“Third time is not the time when it comes to the Kim family,” she warns, adding that the world should expect to “deal with the fourth generation” of the regime.
These images also suggest that the North Korean leader wants to show himself as a “normal” leader, says Chan-il Ahn, president of the World Institute for North Korea Studies.
He shows himself as “a loving father” while launching ICBMs, he says.
“He is no longer a warmonger or a narcissistic little rocket man. He is a good father, who protects his family, as he protects the nation”, abounds John Delury, professor at Yonsei University.