North Korean chief brings daughter to soccer match

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean chief Kim Jong Un introduced his younger daughter to a soccer recreation celebrating the birthday of his late father, state media mentioned 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 mentioned 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 recreation between workers members from the Cupboard and the Protection Ministry.

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

“The stadium was crammed with pleasure and pleasure of officers of the Cupboard and the Ministry of Nationwide Protection who had the nice 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 desires,” the KCNA report mentioned. It mentioned all members on the occasion made a “agency pledge to serve the individuals with devotion with renewed braveness and in excessive spirits.”

Pictures 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 middle between senior authorities and army officers. Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s sister and certainly one of his high international coverage officers, was seen sitting in a row behind them.

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

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She additionally appeared along with her father in a huge military parade in the capitalPyongyang, final week, when troops rolled out greater than a dozen ICBMs, an unprecedented quantity that underscored how Kim continues to develop his army capabilities regardless of restricted assets whereas diplomacy stays stalled.

Previous to the parade, Kim Ju Ae additionally joined her father in a visit to troopsthe place she sat within the seat of honor at a banquet whereas being flanked by her mother and father and generals. She additionally seems alongside her father in a number of new postal stamps launched Friday to mark the November ICBM check, which the North has described as successful.

Analysts say Kim Ju Ae’s appearances at main occasions tied to the nation’s army is her father’s method 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 aimed 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 known as “beloved” and “revered,” have fueled hypothesis that she’s being primed as a future chief, South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Youngse downplayed that possibility throughout a parliamentary session on Wednesday.

Kwon, Seoul’s high level man on North Korea, mentioned 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.