North Korea’s Kim gifts rifles to officials and his daughter takes aim after party congress
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un After a week of work, new sniper rifles were presented to senior government and military officials ruling party congress State media celebrate his leadership as he highlights a photo of his teenage daughter taking aim at a shooting range, while her increasingly prominent appearances fuel speculation that Kim is grooming her to be a future leader.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said on Saturday that Kim presented the rifles to senior party and military officials on Friday, calling them a sign of his “absolute confidence” and gratitude for their commitment in the five years since the last Workers’ Party congress in 2021.
The report also confirmed that Kim has a powerful sister. Kim Yo Jongwho in recent years has served as his fierce spokesperson toward Washington and Seoul, now serves as the general affairs director of the party’s central committee following a promotion at the congress. His new title signals a broader role in overseeing the party’s internal operations and administrative affairs.
Photos on state media showed Kim Yo Jong and other senior officials targeting rifles that Kim Jong Un had distributed at the shooting range. Kim’s young daughterThe man, wearing a brown leather jacket similar to his father’s, was also seen using the gun as smoke rose from the barrel.
Since her first public appearance at a long-range missile test in November 2022, the girl, whose name is believed to be Kim Ju Ae and is about 13 years old, has accompanied her father to a growing number of events, including military demonstrations, factory openings and a trip to Beijing in September, where Kim Jong Un held his first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years.
The party congress, which ends seven days later in Pyongyang on Wednesday, is North Korea’s most important political event, held every five years since 2016, and is a carefully choreographed spectacle extolling Kim’s leadership in front of thousands of delegates.
At this year’s meetings, Kim doubled down on plans to step up North Korea’s operations. nuclear arsenalIt is currently equipped with a variety of weapons systems that threaten the United States and its allies in Asia, confirming this claim. Hard view on rival South Korea.
But he also left open the door to dialogue with the United States and reiterated Pyongyang’s call for Washington to abandon demands for the North to denuclearize as a precondition for restarting long-stalled dialogue.
South Korean officials and experts watched the congress closely for signs that Kim was preparing to extend the family’s dynastic rule into a fourth generation by naming his daughter as his successor. Earlier this month, South Korea’s spy agency said it assessed that Kim Jong Un was close to appointing him as heir apparent.
He was not seen at party meetings during the congress, but on Wednesday night, he shared the stage with his father at the military parade symbolizing the end of the congress. Despite speculation that he might take an official party post at the convention, state media reports indicated no such move and party rules require members to be at least 18 years old.
Some experts say that if Kim Jong Un tries to use the convention to cement his daughter as his successor, the signals will likely be subtle, such as self-congratulatory statements about North Korea’s survival and crediting that resilience to the successful legacy of the socialist cause.
The meetings “lay a solid foundation for the solemn effort to ensure and realize the glorious succession and development of our party,” North Korean state media said in a report evaluating the congress on Thursday.
