North Korean leader takes his daughter to a soccer game

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took his daughter to a soccer game to commemorate her late father’s birthday, state media reported Saturday, in the latest d a series of public appearances by the girl that have sparked debate over whether she is prepared for a future leadership role.

The presence of Kim and her “beloved” daughter, known as Kim Ju Ae and believed to be around 10 years old, caused “joy and excitement” at Friday’s solemn reunion between the government and Ministry of Defense personnel, he explained. .

The ministry team won 3-1 and again beat the government in the tussle, according to the report, which did not mention Kim’s comments. The event celebrated the birth of the country’s former leader, the late Kim Jong Il.

“The stadium was filled with the joy and excitement of government officials and the Ministry of National Defense, who had the great honor of hosting major sporting and cultural events during the Spring Festival in February in the presence of Kim Jong Un, whom they want to see even in their dreams,” the agency said. All the participants made the “firm promise to serve the people with dedication, with renewed courage and with the best of spirits”.

Photos published by North Korea’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, showed Kim and her daughter smiling and cheering from VIP seats, surrounded by senior government and military officials. The president’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who is a top foreign policy official, sat in the back seat.

The event was Kim Ju Ae’s sixth known public appearance and the first not openly linked to her father’s nuclear ambitions. State media first showed her in November when she accompanied Kim Jong Un to witness a test flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Furthermore, last week he appeared alongside his father at a massive military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, where more than a dozen ICBMs were displayed, an unprecedented number which made it clear that the leader continues to expand his military capabilities despite limited resources. while diplomacy remains at a standstill.

Prior to the parade, Kim Ju Ae accompanied Kim on a visit to the troops, where she took pride of place at a banquet, flanked by her parents and generals. His image is next to that of his father on several of the new stamps unveiled Friday to commemorate November’s ballistic missile test, which the North said was a success.

Analysts say Kim Ju Ae’s appearance at major military-related events is her father’s way of reminding the world that he will never voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons and missiles, an arsenal he clearly sees it as his best guarantee of survival and safety. dynastic domain of his family. The girl’s exposure in state media may also seek to bolster the nation’s loyalty to the Kim family and prepare it for a future transfer of power.

Although North Korean media’s bombastic descriptions of Kim Ju Ae as “beloved” and “respected” have fueled speculation that she is groomed as a future leader, South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Youngse, played down that possibility during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.

Kwon, Seoul’s top official for northern affairs, said Kim Jong Un’s relative youth – estimated at 39 – and the male-dominated hierarchy of power make it doubtful that Kim Ju Ae is prepared as his successor.