SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� North Korea has unveiled the little-known daughter of its leader Kim Jong Un at a missile launch site, attracting keen attention on a fourth-generation member of the dynastic family that has ruled North Korea for more than seven decades.
The North鈥檚 state media said Saturday that of its new type of intercontinental ballistic missile with his wife Ri Sol Ju, their 鈥渂eloved daughter鈥� and other officials the previous day. Kim said the launch of the Hwasong-17 missile 鈥� the North鈥檚 longest-range, nuclear-capable missile 鈥� proved he has a reliable weapon to contain U.S.-led military threats.
The main Rodong Sinmun newspaper also released a slew of photos of Kim watching a soaring missile from a distance with his daughter. Other photos showed her with her hair pulled back, wearing a white coat and a pair of red shoes as she walked in hand-in-hand with her father by a huge missile atop a launch truck.
It鈥檚 the first time for North Korea鈥檚 state media to mention the daughter or publicize her photos. KCNA didn鈥檛 provide further details about her like her name and age.
Much of Kim鈥檚 private life is still unknown. But South Korean media reported Kim married Ri, a former singer, in 2009, and that the couple have three children who were born in 2010, 2013 and 2017.
It wasn鈥檛 known which child Kim took to the launch site. But in 2013, after a trip to Pyongyang, retired NBA star Dennis Rodman told the British newspaper the Guardian that he and Kim had a 鈥渞elaxing time by the sea鈥� with the leader鈥檚 family and that he held Kim鈥檚 baby daughter, named Ju Ae.
The identities of Kim鈥檚 children are a source of strong outside interest as the 38-year-old ruler hasn't publicly anointed an heir apparent.
When he for an extended period in 2020 amid unconfirmed rumors about health conditions, global media frenzy flared over who was next in line to run an impoverished yet nuclear-armed country. Many observers said at the time that Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, would step in and run the country if her brother was incapacitated.
The Kim family has governed North Korea with a strong personality following built around key family members since Kim鈥檚 grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founded the country in 1948. The family鈥檚 so-called Paektu bloodline, named after the North鈥檚 most sacred mountain, allows only direct family members to rule the country.
鈥淚t鈥檚 much too soon to infer anything about succession within the Kim regime," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. 鈥淗owever, publicly including his wife and daughter in what Kim claims as a historically successful missile test associates the family business of ruling North Korea with .鈥�
鈥淭his may be an attempt to compensate for how few economic accomplishments Kim has to support his domestic legitimacy,鈥� Easley said.
Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said if Kim continues to take this daughter to key public events, that could signal that she would become Kim鈥檚 successor.
鈥淯nder North Korea鈥檚 system, the children of Kim Jong Un would have the status of a prince or princess, like in a dynasty. As the Rodong Sinmnum newspaper publicized the photo of the daughter, who took after Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju so much 鈥� she has no choice but to live special lives,鈥� Cheong said.
Other observers say Kim taking his family to a missile test site indicated he was confident in the weapon鈥檚 successful launch, or that he might have tried to burnish an image as a normal leader including his family in his affairs.
The disclosure of the Kim family child has taken many North Korea watchers by surprise.
It was only in 2010 when Kim, then 26, was first publicly mentioned in state media as he took a spate of top posts before he inherited power upon his father Kim Jong Il's death the next year. Kim Jong Il was also 31 when he won a key post in the ruling Workers鈥� Party in 1973 鈥� an appointment seen as a key step in the path to succeeding his father Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Il's position as successor was made public at the party congress in 1980.
But Cheong said Kim Jong Il privately told associates in 1992 that Kim Jong Un, his third and youngest son, would succeed him. Cheong said Kim鈥檚 aunt and her husband, who had defected to the United States, told him that a song praising Kim Jong Un was played and that Kim Jong Il said Kim Jong Un was his successor on his son's 8th birthday.
鈥淜im Jong Un may have his daughter, who resembles him the most in his mind, as his successor,鈥� Cheong said.
Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
