Kim Jong-un gifted new sniper rifles to top government and military officials following a weeklong ruling party congress celebrating his leadership, with state media highlighting an image of his teenage daughter taking aim at a shooting range as her increasingly prominent appearances fuel speculation that Jong-un is grooming her as a future leader.
The North Korean leader presented the rifles to senior party and military officials on Friday, calling them a sign of his “absolute trust” and gratitude for their commitment over the past five years since the last Workers’ Party congress in 2021, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said yesterday.
The report also confirmed that Jong-un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, who in recent years has served as his fierce spokesperson towards Washington and Seoul, now serves as the general affairs director of the party’s central committee following a promotion at the congress.
State media photos showed Yo-jong and other top officials aiming the rifles handed out by Jong-un at a shooting range.
Jong-un’s young daughter was also seen handling the weapon.
Since first appearing in public at a long-range missile test in November 2022, the girl – believed to be named Kim Ju-ae and 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 Jong-un held his first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years.
The party congress, which concluded on Wednesday in Pyongyang after seven days, is North Korea’s most significant political event held every five years since 2016.
At this year’s meetings, Jong-un doubled down on his plans to accelerate North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, which is already equipped with various weapons systems threatening the United States and US allies in Asia, and confirmed his hard-line view of rival South Korea.
But he also left the door open for dialogue with the US, reiterating Pyongyang’s earlier stance calling for Washington to abandon demands for the North’s denuclearisation as a precondition for resuming long-stalled dialogue. — AP
