North Korean Leader Kim And His Daughter Ride A Tank Together During Army Training

SEOUL, South Korea — In their latest associated nationalist appearance, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter rode a vessel together, authorities media photos showed Friday, days aft they watched rocket launches and fired pistols.

The charismatic Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim oversaw firing and different drills involving vessel units and infantry troops connected Thursday and called for completing warfare preparations.

KCNA images showed Kim and his daughter, some wearing achromatic leather jackets, riding successful an olive-green vessel pinch different soldiers during Thursday’s training. The images showed nan woman sticking her caput retired of nan tank’s hatch, pinch Kim sitting connected apical of nan vessel and smiling.

The girl, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and astir 13, has accompanied her begetter to a number of high-profile subject and different events since precocious 2022, prompting extracurricular speculation that she is her father’s apt heir. North Korean authorities media has called her Kim Jong Un’s “most beloved” aliases “respected” kid and published footage and photos indicating nan two’s closeness.

Last week, they fired pistols during a sojourn to a ray munitions mill and watched a live-fire trial of aggregate rocket motorboat systems. Last September, nan woman went to Beijing pinch her father, and during New Year’s Day celebrations she kissed her begetter connected nan cheek.

South Korea’s spy agency assessed past period that Kim Jong Un was adjacent to designating her arsenic his heir. Some experts disagree pinch that assessment, citing Kim Jong Un’s comparatively young property and nan highly male-dominated quality of North Korea’s powerfulness hierarchy.

The North Korean training, meanwhile, came arsenic nan U.S. and South Korea were engaged successful their yearly subject exercises that North Korea views arsenic an penetration rehearsal. The U.S. and South Korea wrapped up their 11-day computer-simulated bid station workout connected Thursday, but they are still continuing section training.