The appearance of Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, has fuelled speculation she’s being primed as a future leader (Pictures: EPA)
Kim Jong-un took his daughter to a huge military parade showing off more nuclear missiles than ever before.
The widely anticipated night-time parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s army, featured the newest hardware in his growing nuclear arsenal.
It was the fifth known public appearance by Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, his second-born child who is believed to be around 10 years old.
Her attendance has fuelled speculation she’s being primed as a future leader of the isolated country.
She has been called ‘respected’ and ‘beloved’, and a photo released Tuesday showed her sitting in the seat of honour at a banquet, flanked by generals and her parents.
Kim smiled and raised his hand from a balcony as thousands of troops lined up in a brightly illuminated Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after his grandfather, the nation’s founder.
It comes after he told his top military brass to ‘perfect the preparedness for war’.
North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong-un gesturing while viewing a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square (Picture: EPA)
People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and his daughter (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Fireworks go off during a military parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (Picture: KCNA via KNS/AFP via Getty)
North Korea released photos showing what it says are intercontinental ballistic missiles (Picture: AP)
The parade featured the newest hardware in Kim’s growing nuclear arsenal (Picture: AP)
The North displayed more intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) than ever before (Picture: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
Experts obseved that if all were equipped with multiple warheads that could be enough to saturate existing US missile defence systems (Picture: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
Thousands of troops lined up in a brightly illuminated Kim Il Sung Square (Picture: STR/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
Jets flying past during the military parade (Picture: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
Kim Jong-un and daughter Kim Ju-ae (Picturee: Reuters)
Pictures released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also showed his wife Ri Sol-ju (left) (Picture: STR/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
His daughter’s attendance has fuelled speculation she’s being primed as a future leader of the isolated country (Picture: STR/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
The parade marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), the revolutionary armed forces of the Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK) (Picture: EPA)
Photos released by state media showed transport and launcher trucks carrying about 10 of the country’s Hwasong-17 ICBMs, capable of striking deep into the US mainland.
‘This is cumulatively more ICBM launchers than we’ve ever seen before at a North Korean parade,’ Ankit Panda, of the United States–based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tweeted.
He observed that if all were equipped with multiple warheads that could be enough to saturate existing US missile defence systems.
Those weapons were followed by another large missile encased in a canister and transported on a 9-axle vehicle. It wasn’t immediately clear whether it was a mock-up or an actual rocket.
But Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said the missile was likely a version of a solid-fuel ICBM the North has been trying to develop for years.
A woman walks past a television screen showing one of the missiles rolling past (Picture: AFP via Getty)
North Korea is coming off a record-breaking year in weapons testing (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Thousands of troops took part (Picture: AP)
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency confirmed that the parade featured a variety of nuclear-capable weapons (Picture: STR/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty)
The agency described the ICBMs as crucial weapons supporting the North’s ongoing ‘power-to-power, all-out confrontation’ against its enemies (Picture: Reuters)
Most of the country’s largest ballistic missiles use liquid fuel, which requires them to be loaded with propellant at their launch site – a time-consuming process.
Developing a solid-fuel ICBM has long been seen as a key goal for the country, as it could make its nuclear missiles harder to spot and destroy during a conflict.
It is unclear how close the suspected new missile could be to testing. North Korea has sometimes displayed mock-ups at the parades.
The parade came after Kim met with his top military brass on Monday and ordered an expansion of combat exercises, as he continues to escalate an already provocative run in weapons demonstrations in face of deepening tensions with his neighbours and Washington.
‘This time, Kim Jong Un let North Korea’s expanding tactical and long-range missile forces speak for themselves,’ said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
‘The message Pyongyang wants to send internationally, demonstrating its capabilities to deter and coerce, will likely come in the form of solid-fuel missile tests and detonation of a miniaturised nuclear device.’
He was referring to US and South Korean assessments that the North could be preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency confirmed that the parade featured a variety of nuclear-capable weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons targeting South Korea.
The agency described the ICBMs as crucial weapons supporting the North’s ongoing ‘power-to-power, all-out confrontation’ against its enemies.
North Korea is coming off a record-breaking year in weapons testing, and the dozens of missiles it fired in 2022 included potentially nuclear-capable systems designed to strike targets in South Korea and the US mainland.
The intensified testing activity was punctuated by fiery statements and a new law threatening pre-emptive nuclear attacks against its neighbours and the United States in a broad range of scenarios.
Kim doubled down on his nuclear push entering 2023.
During a major political conference in December, Kim called for an ‘exponential increase’ of the country’s nuclear warheads, mass production of battlefield tactical nukes targeting ‘enemy’ South Korea and the development of more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the continental United States.
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It was the fifth known public appearance by Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, his second-born child who is believed to be around 10 years old.
