North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un, who is known for keeping his private life under wraps, was seen holding his daughter’s hands in her first public appearance, the state media KCNA reported.
Pictures shared by the state agency show his daughter standing next to the leader in a white puffer jacket, holding Kim’s hand, as they look at military hardware.
However, the state media did not name the girl, who appeared to accompany Kim as he oversaw a test firing of a missile on Friday, said KCNA.
North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from Pyongyang International Airfield that landed near Japanese waters Friday in its second major weapons test this month that showed a potential ability to launch nuclear strikes on all of the US mainland. The missile flew a distance of 999.2 kilometers (621 miles).
Kim Jong Un is a man of many secrets. But in 2013, former basketball star Dennis Rodman told the British daily the Guardian that Kim had a “baby” called “Ju Ae.” He said he spent time with the family, describing Kim as a “a good dad” and that he spoke to Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju.
Speculation sprang up in 2012 that Ri might be pregnant after a photo carried by state media showed her wearing a long coat that could have been hiding a bump. But North Korean authorities kept quiet about the matter.
State media did not announce Kim and Ri’s marriage until July 2012, some three years after South Korean intelligence believes the wedding took place.
But that changed in 2018, when she was afforded the new title of “respected First Lady” by North Korean state media, a step up from the previously used “comrade” and a sign, according to analysts, that she was gaining her own personality cult.
Kim and Ri have three children together, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
