Seoul: Kim Jong-un’s daughter revealed last week is his 2nd child

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who was recently seen in public for the first time at a missile launch site, is his second child, aged about 10. , the South Korean spy agency told lawmakers on Tuesday. speculation swirled about her motives for bringing her to the attention of the outside world.

On Saturday, North Korea said Kim had observed the launch of the country’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile – Hwasong-17 – the previous day with his wife Ri Sol-ju and their “beloved daughter”. State media released photos showing Kim walking hand-in-hand with a young girl in a white coat and red shoes past a huge missile on a launch truck and watching a weapon hover from afar.

In a closed-door briefing before a parliamentary committee, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the country’s main spy agency, told lawmakers it assessed the girl to be Kim’s second child named Ju. Ae and about 10-year-old Yoo Sang-bum, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting, said.

The NIS determined she was Kim’s second child because her appearance matched reports that she was taller and fatter than other girls of the same age, Yoo said quoting the NIS.

Youn Kun-young, who also attended the NIS meeting, said he was also told she was Kim’s second child, but declined to provide further details.

The NIS said it could not confirm the lawmakers’ comments. As a rule, he neither confirms nor denies the content of his private briefings provided to parliament. The NIS has a spotty record in confirming developments in North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive nations.

The girl is apparently Kim’s child whom retired NBA star Dennis Rodman saw during his trip to Pyongyang in 2013. After that visit to Pyongyang, Rodman told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that he and Kim spent a “relaxing time by the sea” with the leader’s family and that he was holding Kim’s baby girl, named Ju Ae.

It was the first time that North Korea had officially confirmed its existence. North Korean state media did not release Kim’s daughter’s age, name and other details last week. South Korean media speculated that Kim married Ri in 2009 and they would have three children, born in 2010, 2013 and 2017 respectively. is a girl.

Kim, 38, is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea since 1948. He inherited power at the end of 2011 when his father Kim Jong Il died.

Kim and her father were both first mentioned in state media dispatches after they became adults. Given this, the reveal of the girl being in her early teens surprised outside observers.

Some experts say the revelation of the daughter at a missile test site showed Kim was emboldened by the advancement of his nuclear arsenal, the backbone of his family’s rule. Others speculate that Kim continues to bring her to major public events could suggest that Kim may have her as an early heir in her mind.

North Korea’s leading newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Sunday it would continue to expand its nuclear arsenal to ensure “bright smiles and sweet dreams for our future generations”. Some observers linked the article to the daughter’s presence, saying Kim may have revealed her to underscore the rationale for her nuclear ambitions or show that her family rules the nation’s nuclear and missile programs.