Kim Jong-un’s daughter inspects another ICBM as leader hails North Korea’s nuclear power | North Korea

Kim Jong-un says North Korea intends to have the world’s strongest nuclear force as the leader was again pictured with his daughter inspecting troops and an intercontinental ballistic missile .

“North Korea’s ultimate goal is to possess the strongest strategic force in the world, the absolute strength unparalleled in the century,” Kim said in an order promoting dozens of military officers involved in the launch. last weekend of a new ballistic missile, state media reported. Sunday.

He described the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as “the world’s most powerful strategic weapon” and said it demonstrated North Korea’s determination and ability to eventually build the world’s most powerful military. most powerful in the world, which would reliably protect the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the person.

State media also showed that Kim was accompanied during a military examination by his daughter, whose existence had never been publicly confirmed before last weekend’s Hwasong-17 test. It is estimated that Ju Ae is around 12 or 13 years old, which means that in about four to five years she will be preparing to attend college or do her military service, Michael Madden, a North Korean leadership expert at Stimson Center in Washington, said last week.

The official KCNA news agency described her as Kim’s “most beloved” or “precious” child, a more honorary title than its earlier description of Kim’s “beloved” child when it was sent. the previous week.

His second appearance will raise the prospect that the leadership of the totalitarian state could pass to a fourth generation of Kims.

Kim is believed to have up to three children – two girls and a boy, experts said. Some observers believe one of these children was seen in footage of a national holiday celebration in September.

In Sunday’s report, Kim also reportedly said that North Korean scientists had made a “wonderful leap forward in the development of technology for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles” and that they needed to expand and strengthen the the country’s nuclear deterrent at an extraordinarily rapid rate. .

Kim was pictured in photos posing with scientists, engineers and military officials involved in the test.

According to state media, these workers pledged to uphold the “absolute authority” of the party and Kim, and vowed that “our missiles will fly vigorously only in the direction indicated” by Kim.

Capable of reaching the American mainland, the launch of the Hwasong-17 on November 19 prompted the United States to seek a presidential statement from the United Nations Security Council to hold North Korea accountable for its missile tests, which are prohibited by Security Council resolutions.

North Korea’s powerful Supreme People’s Congress Standing Committee awarded the Hwasong-17 missile the title of “Hero of the DPRK and Gold Star Medal and Order of the National Flag 1st Class”, the report said. official KCNA news agency in a separate statement, using the country’s initials. official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“[The missile] has clearly proved to the world that the DPRK is a full-fledged nuclear power capable of opposing the nuclear supremacy of the US imperialists and has fully demonstrated its might as the strongest ICBM state,” KCNA said.

With Reuters