North Korean leader brings daughter to soccer match

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean chief Kim Jong Un introduced his younger daughter to a soccer sport celebrating the birthday of his late father, state media stated Saturday, her newest in a sequence of public appearances which have triggered debate on whether or not she’s being prepped for a future management position.

The official Korean Central Information Company stated the presence of Kim and his “beloved” daughter, referred to as Kim Ju Ae and believed to be round 10 years previous, introduced “pleasure and pleasure” to Friday’s ceremonial sport between employees members from the Cupboard and the Protection Ministry.

The Protection Ministry workforce received the match 3-1 after which beat the Cupboard employees once more in a tug-of-war occasion, based on the report, which didn’t point out any feedback made by Kim. The occasion was to have fun the birthday of the late Kim Jong Il, the nation’s earlier chief and the daddy of the present ruler.

“The stadium was full of pleasure and pleasure of officers of the Cupboard and the Ministry of Nationwide Protection who had the good honor of holding vital sports activities and cultural occasions on the spring vacation of February within the presence of Kim Jong Un whom they needed to see even of their goals,” the KCNA report stated. It stated all members on the occasion made a “agency pledge to serve the folks with devotion with renewed braveness and in excessive spirits.”

Images revealed by North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper confirmed Kim and his daughter smiling and clapping from the VIP seats, the place they sat within the heart between senior authorities and navy officers. Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s sister and one in every of his high international coverage officers, was seen sitting in a row behind them.

The occasion marked the sixth recognized public look of Kim Ju Ae, however the first that wasn’t overtly associated to her father’s nuclear arms ambitions. She was first proven on state media in November when Kim Jong Un introduced her to watch a flight take a look at of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

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She additionally appeared together with her father in an enormous navy parade within the capital, Pyongyang, final week, when troops rolled out greater than a dozen ICBMs, an unprecedented quantity that underscored how Kim continues to increase his navy capabilities regardless of restricted sources whereas diplomacy stays stalled.

Previous to the parade, Kim Ju Ae additionally joined her father in a go to to troops, the place she sat within the seat of honor at a banquet whereas being flanked by her dad and mom and generals. She additionally seems alongside her father in a number of new postal stamps launched Friday to mark the November ICBM take a look at, which the North has described as a hit.

Analysts say Kim Ju Ae’s appearances at main occasions tied to the nation’s navy is her father’s means of reminding the world he won’t ever voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons and missiles, which he clearly sees because the strongest assure of his survival and the extension of his household’s dynastic rule. Her outstanding publicity in state media may be geared toward strengthening home loyalty to the Kim household and making ready for a future heredity switch of energy.

Whereas North Korean state media’s lofty descriptions of Kim Ju Ae, who has been referred to as “beloved” and “revered,” have fueled hypothesis that she’s being primed as a future chief, South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Youngse downplayed that risk throughout a parliamentary session on Wednesday.

Kwon, Seoul’s high level man on North Korea, stated Kim Jong Un’s comparatively younger age — believed to be 39 — and North Korea’s male-dominated energy hierarchy make it questionable whether or not Kim Ju Ae is being groomed as his successor.