Kim Jong-un takes daughter to watch North Korea’s missile test

Kim Jong-un watched cruise missile tests fired from a warship alongside his daughter, North Korean state media reported on Wednesday (11). Footage sent by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed the two in a conference room, watching a screen displaying weapons launches from the Choe Hyon, a one-year-old destroyer. The tests come at a time when North Korea is threatening to retaliate against joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea in the region. Kim watched the missile launches via video on Tuesday and emphasized the need to maintain “a powerful and credible nuclear deterrence strategy,” KCNA said in a statement that did not mention his daughter. Kim Jong-un watches North Korea’s missile and cruise test alongside his daughter Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP The young girl, reportedly named Kim Ju-ae and around 13 years old, has accompanied her father to several important events, including military parades and weapons launches, since the end of 2022. South Korea’s intelligence agency assessed last month that Kim Jong Un was close to designating her as his successor. KCNA said the missiles hit target islands off North Korea’s west coast. The report quoted Kim Jong-un as saying the launches were intended to demonstrate the Navy’s strategic offensive posture and familiarize troops with firing weapons. Recurring tests Kim Jong-un personally observed similar cruise missile launches from the aircraft carrier Choe Hyon last week, but his daughter was not present. Tuesday’s missile launches came after the start of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, which North Korea considers a rehearsal for an invasion. On Tuesday, Kim Jong-un’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo-jong, warned that the exercises once again reveal the US and South Korea’s “inveterate revulsion” for North Korea. She said North Korea “will convince enemies of our warlike deterrence.” Seoul and Washington’s joint 11-day Freedom Shield exercise, which began on Monday, is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise and will be accompanied by a field training program. North Korea often responds to both sets of training with its own weapons tests.

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