North
Korea’s leader showed off his daughter. What could it mean?
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee
November 21, 2022 at 5:19 a.m. EST
Listen
6 min
Comment
106
Gift Article
Share
SEOUL — The first public appearance of
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter in state media photos of the latest
ballistic missile test has North Korea watchers buzzing in search of greater
meaning.
Are
you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s
war in Ukraine.
Was it a clue about Kim’s
succession plans, though the girl is not yet in her teens? And given the
strange setting, who was the targeted audience for these images?
Accurately divining the
communications released by North Korea, one of the most closed
countries in the world, is an educated guessing game at best. Its propaganda
can carry multiple messages simultaneously and can serve as a type of Rorschach
test for differing opinions. But many experts agree the photograph’s release
was an intriguing move by Kim that sheds light on how he may want to be viewed
as a leader and father, both domestically and by the international community.
“This is a highly unusual
case. You can’t view it through one lens. I believe Kim considered both the
external and domestic implications,” said Kwak Gil-seop, former director of the
North Korean Regime Research Office at the government-affiliated Institute for
National Security Strategy. “This was the result of very intentional and
complex planning. I think it’s the best one yet among Kim Jong Un’s staged
events.”
What’s happening inside North Korea? Since the
pandemic, the window has slammed shut.
The images of Kim and his
daughter, published Saturday, showed them on the site of what Pyongyang
announced as a successful launch of its most powerful intercontinental
ballistic missile to date. The Hwasong-17 is
being designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads and has the capability of
reaching the East Coast of the United States.
State media said Kim brought
his “beloved” daughter, who was not named, along with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, who
has appeared in past missile test photos. Observers say they believe the girl
is Kim Ju Ae, whose name was first revealed in 2013 when retired NBA star
Dennis Rodman described holding her as a baby during his visit to North Korea
that year.
South Korean intelligence
officials say Kim has two other children. The older, a boy, was
born around 2010. Even less is known about the other child, who was born around
2017.
Tae Yong-ho, a South Korean
lawmaker who was a top North Korean diplomat before he defected, said he thinks
Kim wanted to both emphasize his family’s roots and use them to underscore the
foundation of North Korea’s nuclear development — a signal that the weapons
program, the crux of the regime’s survival strategy, is here to stay.
“By showing his daughter next
to the ICBM, [Kim] is announcing to the world and his people that DPRK will
never give up its nuclear program and it will be carried on throughout his
lineage,” Tae said, using the official abbreviation for North Korea. “And this
message also implies that the world cannot achieve denuclearization of DPRK via
influencing” China.
A North Korean statement
hinted at the meaning behind the photos a day after their release. In a story
published in Rodong Sinmun, a state media outlet, an unnamed North Korean woman
described how she watched the event on television with her children. She was
quoted as praising its success, saying that thanks to the country’s weapons,
her children “would never know war and live under clear blue skies.”
North Korea is turning up the heat again. Here’s why.
Regardless of the motivation,
his daughter’s appearance broke norms. Kim is the third generation of his
family to lead North Korea, and the Kim leaders’ children historically have not
made such appearances until after they were designated as successor,
noted Rachel Minyoung Lee, an expert in North Korean media propaganda.
It’s not the first time Kim
has strayed from the conventions set by his father and grandfather. He has, for
example, been more forthcoming about his country’s food crisis and
other problems than his predecessors were.
And unlike his father, who did
not reveal his wife and only appeared in public with his sister later in life,
Ri was shown in state media six months after Kim ascended to power, and his
sister, a top aide, appears regularly in public.
“The unprecedented move of
unveiling the incumbent leader’s child to the public should be understood in
the broader context of North Korea’s evolving propaganda strategy under Kim
Jong Un,” Lee said. “North Korea in the past decade has made efforts to make
propaganda more persuasive and relatable, and that sometimes included increased
transparency” and highlighting a more human side of Kim.
He escaped North Korea, then risked everything to go
back for his mom
“Ju Ae likely was meant to
represent future generations, and there is no stronger expression of your
resolve than your child,” Lee said.
There could be still other
motivations, according to Kwak, the North Korea regime expert. By shifting the
conversation to his role as a family leader, he could be trying to remind
political elites and domestic audiences of his “Baekdu” bloodline as
a descendant of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung.
“Beyond the military issues
and diplomatic complications [of an ICBM test], he turned the world’s attention
on himself as a father. He has obfuscated the issues of provocations and
nuclear weapons development, while promoting his image,” Kwak said.
The photos have raised
questions about potential plans to name a successor to Kim, though
he is only 38. Experts say any assumptions would be premature based on his
daughter’s one-time appearance. The past two succession campaigns took years to
unfold through private meetings with political leaders.
North Korea says it tested nuclear-capable missiles
aimed at South
Still, this could be the
beginning of a years-long process to craft Ju Ae’s public persona and train her
to become an established member of the North Korean elite, or even an
influential official in the regime, said Michael Madden, who runs the
website North Korea Leadership Watch.
Kim has built significantly on
his predecessors’ work in developing the country’s nuclear weapons
program, Madden said. Bringing his daughter to the Hwasong-17 launch could be a
way to reinforce the family legacy as well as associating her with
it.
“This is a way of saying, ‘I’m
going to bring out the oldest daughter and guess who’s going to be running
North Korea? We’re going to continue the Kim family rule here, so don’t be
making any plans,’ ” Madden said.
Potential political
challengers should pay attention, he added. “Bringing her out like that, even
if she doesn’t become supreme leader, it’s a way of saying, ‘This is going to
continue, and don’t even try to think about power challenges.’ ”