North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor.
Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope with her finger on the trigger, smoke rising from the barrel.
Photo: North Korean Central News Agency via EPA
She was wearing what appeared to be a leather jacket, a garment often worn by her and her father at major political events, symbolizing authority and legitimacy.
KCNA on Saturday reported that Kim Jong-un presented new sniper rifles to senior party and military officials, describing the move as a gesture of appreciation and “absolute trust,” without mentioning Ju-ae.
He then visited a shooting range with the officials, where he fired the rifle and took a group photo, it added.
South Korea’s spy agency last month said that Pyongyang appears to have started the process of designating Ju-ae as leader Kim Jong-un’s successor.
By underscoring Ju-ae’s ability to handle and fire a weapon, the photos “suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,” said Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
KCNA also said that Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong would head the North Korean Workers’ Party’s general affairs department — a role analysts describe as akin to a party secretary-general.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated country.
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