JAKARTA - The appearance of a small girl with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as she witnessed the launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) attracted attention.
The appearance can be seen from images published by state media KCNA last Saturday. Leader Kim was seen with a small girl in white jackets, since the missile was still in a storage facility, issued, preparation for launch, until the time the missile broke. "In a closed briefing on parliamentary committee, South Korea's National Intelligence Agency (NIS) told lawmakers they judged the daughter was Kim's second child named Ju Ae," said Yoo Sang-bum, one of the MPs attending the meeting, quoted from TIME 23 November.
Youn Kun-young, who also attended NIS briefings, confirmed the substance of Yoo's comments, but declined to provide further details.
The girl was said to be Kim's daughter, who was seen by retired NBA star Dennis Rodman during her trip to Pyongyang in 2013. After Pyongyang's visit, Rodman told the British newspaper The Guardian, she and Kim had "relax time by the sea" with the leader's family. She was holding Kim's baby girl, named Ju Ae.
It was the first time North Korea has officially confirmed its whereabouts. However, North Korean state media did not disclose the age, name and other details of Kim's daughter last week.
South Korean media have speculated that Kim married Ri Sol-ju in 2009 and they have three children, each of whom was born in 2010, 2013, and 2017. Some reports say Kim's first child is a boy and the third is a girl.
Analysts say Kim Jong-un's daughter's appearance at the launch of the missile was too early to be judged as a candidate for the successor to North Korean leader, or just a symbol used to reassure citizens that nuclear weapons would protect children and become a "monument to be passed on to our descendants from generation to generation," state media reported.
Chun Su-jin, author of South Korea's book about North Korean female leaders, said the possibility of North Korean elites welcoming Kim's daughter as the ruler was very small.
"It's not ready to welcome leaders of any other gender," he said, citing The National News.
"(Kim) only performed a show that he was a loving father, not just a brutal dictator who fired missiles," he continued.
Others believe, although North Korean society is very patrical, gender may not disqualify girls or other girls from taking power.
"Except for sudden health problems that cause inability or death, there is quite a lot of time before Kim, who is believed to be nearly 40, needs to consider a replacement," said Michael Madden, blogger and director of North Korea's Leadership Observations.
"It gives North Korean political culture a lot of time to change and create conditions for the successor to women," explained Madden.
Leader Kim has appointed several women around her, including her sister, Kim Yo-jong and Choe Son-hui, the country's first female foreign minister.
Kim Jong-un, 38, is the third generation of his family to run North Korea since 1948. He inherited power in late 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong-il.
Kim and her father were first mentioned in state media broadcasts after they grew up. Given this, the disclosure of the daughter who is believed to be a teenager's early age shocked observers.
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