The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stole the limelight when she appeared with her father and mother at a huge military parade, during which a record number of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads were revealed.
Western news agencies such as Reuters and Agence France-Presse were interested in the appearance of the 10-year-old daughter, Kim Ju-ai, with her father and mother, Ri Sol-ju, as well as senior military leaders, and considered that this appearance fuels speculation that she may be a candidate for a leadership position, perhaps even the father's succession in The nuclear state in which power is transmitted by inheritance, where the current president assumed power, succeeding his father Kim Jong Il, who in turn succeeded grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The day before the military parade, which was held on Wednesday evening, the daughter appeared with her parents as they dined with military leaders at a lavish banquet commemorating the army's founding anniversary this week.
Reuters quoted Mason Ritchie, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in the South Korean capital, Seoul, as saying, "All we know is that this is just the passion of a favorite child, but the more it appears, the more it seems that it is either being completely groomed for leadership or at least being presented as a possibility."
The clearest message, Hancock added, is that the country's nuclear weapons are for future generations, and the daughter is part of that.
Daughter Kim Ju-ae mediates her father, the North Korean leader, and her mother, Ri Sol-ju (Reuters)
Standard missiles
For its part, Agence France-Presse focused on the military parade that took place on Wednesday evening, revealing a record number of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
It quoted the official Korean Central News Agency as saying Thursday that the parade, which took place in the center of the capital, Pyongyang, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army, was aimed at showing the country's "enormous nuclear strike capability".
According to the South Korean "NK news" website, the offer included 10 copies of North Korea's largest intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-17" and mechanisms apparently designed to carry solid-fuel ICBMs.
And the French Press Agency says that developing this type of intercontinental ballistic missile is one of the main goals of Pyongyang, because it helps make monitoring and destruction of its nuclear missiles more difficult.
In 2022, North Korea conducted a record number of weapons tests, including the first launch of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile.
Kim Jong-un called his country recently to "significantly" enhance its military arsenal by producing large quantities of tactical nuclear weapons and developing new nuclear response missiles.