N. Korean leader Kim brings daughter to visit with troops
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brought his daughter to visit troops to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the country's army as he lauded the “irresistible might” of his nuclear-armed military, state media said Wednesday.
The visit came amid indications North Korea is preparing to stage a massive military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, where it could showcase the latest hardware of a growing nuclear weapons program that stokes the concern of its neighbors and the United States.
In her fourth known public appearance, Kim's daughter Kim Ju Ae, believed to be 9 or 10 years old, stood closely with her father as he shook the hands of senior officials and sat next to him at a table. Analysts say Kim's decision to bring his daughter to public events tied to his military is to remind the world he has no intentions to voluntarily surrender his nuclear weapons, which he apparently sees as the strongest guarantee of his survival and the extension of his family's dynastic rule.
State media's lofty description of Kim Ju Ae, who has been called “respected” and “beloved,” has also inspired debate on whether she's being primed as her father's successor. She attended a flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in November and has accompanied her father to a meeting with military scientists and an inspection of ballistic missiles.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim visited the lodging quarters of the Korean People's Army's general officers with his daughter. He later gave an encouraging speech to troops at a banquet, praising them for maintaining the “strongest army in the world” despite external difficulties.