Little is known about personal affairs of the Kim dynasty. The world doesn’t even know for sure how old Kim Jong-un is. South Korean intelligence suspects he is 38 years old; North Korea once changed his birth year from 1983 to 1982 to keep him in line: his father Kim Jong-il was born in 1942 and his grandfather Kim Il-sung in 1912. It is therefore a remarkable move that Kim Jong-un now presents his daughter in public for the first time.
It is also not officially known how old the girl is or what her name is. US basketball player Dennis Rodman, who once described Kim Jong-un as a “friend for life”, told him Guardians In 2013that he held her in his arms and that her name was Ju-ae.
In the pictures, which have now been published by the state news agency, the girl and her father watch the launch of an ICBM. Kim Jong-un’s wife Ri Sol-ju can also be seen in pictures. Kim was present at the test site with “his beloved daughter and his wife” to “personally direct the entire course of the test shot”.
ICBM crashes into the Sea of Japan
North Korea launched another ICBM on Friday; according to the state media, it should be a Hwasong-17 have acted. The missile has a range of about 15,000 kilometers – enough to reach the United States. The rocket is said to have been detonated from the airport in Pyongyang and eventually crashed into the Sea of Japan east of North Korea. The state media released images of Kim and his daughter hand-in-hand to inspect the ICBM before launch.
Tensions in the conflict with North Korea had increased again in the past few weeks and months. The country has launched at least 65 ballistic missiles this year – more than double the number in any year since Kim came to power in 2012. On November 2 alone, North Korea fired 23 rockets and 100 artillery shells. Friday’s missile also caused concern at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Heads of state and government held an emergency meeting in Bangkok and condemned the rocket launch, which is seen as a provocation.
North Korea justifies it with military exercises that the US is holding with its allies Japan and South Korea in the region. With the missile, Kim Jong-un wants to deter and probably also take advantage of the fact that the USA is currently concentrating on the war in Ukraine. According to experts, the fact that he is taking his daughter with him on this occasion should make one thing clear: the Kims are firmly in the saddle – and will continue to do so in the future. Until now, the offspring of the Kim dynasty were only introduced when they were old enough to hold political office.