North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared in public with his daughter at a banquet celebrating the 75th anniversary of the North Korean military, where he praised the country’s “absolute strength” and “irresistible power”, state media reported on Wednesday.
Observers expect a military parade in Pyongyang to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) on Wednesday night, during which the nuclear-armed regime can showcase new types of weapons.
Photos released by the state-run North Korean news agency KCNA show the girl accompanying Kim and his wife Ri Sol Dzu. According to commentators, this is probably their second child, Kim Dzu Ae, who may be nine or ten years old.
Kim Jong Un with his daughter KCNA
KCNA did not name the girl, but described her as the “respected daughter” of the leader. Earlier, the official press used the adjective “beloved” in relation to her, South Korean news agency Yonhap reminds.
The state media of the DPRK showed the girl for the first time in November 2022, when she and Kim watched the missile test. According to experts, the leader appears in public with his daughter to make it clear that he does not intend to give up nuclear weapons, which he apparently sees as a guarantee of maintaining his family’s dynastic rule, the AP reported.
Prior to November 2022, North Korean media did not confirm that the country’s leader had children. According to a South Korean intelligence service, Kim and Ri, who married in 2009, have three of them: two daughters and a son, born in 2010, 2013 and 2017.
Kim on the “irresistible might” of his army
During the banquet, Kim gave a speech to officers in which he assessed that the North Korean army “may be able to fulfill the order of the times and history as the strongest army in the world.” In his opinion, the DPRK “has finally developed a great and absolute strength” and its army possesses “irresistible power”.
Kim Jong Un with his daughter and wife Ri Sol DzuKCNA
On Tuesday, the KCNA said the army’s top governing body plans to “expand and intensify” military exercises to “more rigorously improve war preparedness.” Earlier, Pyongyang threatened “the harshest response” to the announcement of expanding the scale of joint military exercises USA and South Korea.
Last year North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests, firing about 70 ballistic missiles. Kim has pledged an “exponential increase” in its nuclear arsenal, and observers fear the regime will soon conduct its seventh test of a nuclear weapon.
Main photo source: KCNA