Seoul, Feb 28 (EFE).- North Korea on Saturday released an unusual photograph of Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a sniper rifle, just days after she attended a major military parade, in what analysts see as another sign she may be being groomed as a future successor.
The image, published by the state news agency KCNA, shows the girl, believed to be named Kim Ju-ae or Kim Ju-hae and to be around 13 years old, aiming and firing a rifle fitted with a telescopic sight at a shooting range.
The close-up image is particularly striking because she appears alone, without her father, with whom she usually appears at public events, or other senior officials.
In another photograph, she is seen observing a white target through a telescope under the watchful gaze of the North Korean leader.
The images were taken during a shooting exercise following an event held on Friday at the headquarters of the Central Committee.
According to KCNA, Kim Jong-un personally presented sniper rifles to senior party and military officials.
Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies said the photos show that Kim Ju-ae “knows how to fire a weapon,” suggesting she is undergoing “successor training,” as quoted by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Ju-ae’s public profile rose again last Wednesday when she attended the closing military parade of the 9th Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, the regime’s main decision-making body, appearing alongside her father in the stands.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has previously indicated that she may be in the process of being designated as a potential successor.
Kim’s sister also shown firing rifle
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, is also seen in the photographs aiming and firing one of the rifles.
KCNA confirmed in a separate report on Saturday that Kim Yo-jong had been appointed director of the General Affairs Department of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party.
Her promotion was announced on Monday, although her exact post was not specified until now.
The department oversees the distribution and implementation of the leader’s directives across the party structure, giving Kim Yo-jong “direct access” to the North Korean ruler, Kim In-tae, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Security Strategy, told Yonhap.
While some analysts question whether a woman could lead the tightly controlled and traditionally patriarchal state, the growing visibility of Ju-ae and the political rise of Kim Yo-jong, along with the prominence of Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, point to an increased role for women under Kim Jong-un’s rule. EFE
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