08.02.2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Joo-ae inspect the dormitories of military generals on February 7 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army. This is Kim Joo Ae’s fourth public appearance. It is predicted that North Korea will hold a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on the evening of the 8th.
(Voice of Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on February 8, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae visited and inspected the dormitories of the generals of the Korean People’s Army on the 7th, and then attended the Army Day Celebrate the banquet and give a speech. In his speech, Kim Jong-un praised North Korea’s military for remaining “the most powerful army in the world” despite “difficult external circumstances” and said it was his “greatest honor” to be the army’s supreme commander. He did not mention South Korea and the United States in his speech.
Photos released by state media showed military officials applauding at the banquet as Kim Jong Un and Kim Joo Ae held hands as they walked the red carpet with his wife, Ri Sol Ju. The venue for the banquet appeared to be the Yanggakdo Hotel in Pyongyang. Kim, who is believed to be 9 or 10 years old, was wearing a black suit and white shirt. KCNA called her a “respected daughter” in its report.
This is the fourth time Kim Joo Ae has appeared in public. In November last year, North Korean officials announced that Kim Joo Ae had participated in an intercontinental ballistic missile flight test with his father Kim Jong Un. She has since accompanied Kim Jong-un to a meeting with military scientists and inspected ballistic missiles.
Analysts believe Kim’s decision to take his daughter to military-related public events is an attempt to remind the world that he has no intention of voluntarily surrendering his nuclear weapons. Kim Jong-un apparently believes that nuclear weapons are the most powerful guarantee for maintaining and continuing the rule of the Kim family dynasty.
The photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on February 8th shows that Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Joo-ae attended the banquet on the 7th
Strengthen combat readiness and expand nuclear weapons capacity
A day before the banquet, Kim Jong-un chaired a meeting with top North Korean military officials and called for the expansion of combat exercises aimed at boosting combat readiness. In the photo of the scene published by the Korean Central News Agency, a flag with the words “Missile General Administration of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and its logo hung behind Kim Jong-un’s seat. North Korea proposed a new nuclear strategy in early January this year, emphasizing the “geometric expansion” of nuclear weapons and the “mass production” of tactical nuclear weapons.
It is predicted that North Korea will hold a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on the evening of the 8th, but North Korean officials have not confirmed plans for the military parade. Commercial satellite imagery showed that preparations had been evident for weeks in North Korea. The event is usually aimed at glorifying Kim’s rule and his efforts to cement North Korea’s status as a nuclear power.
North Korea faces growing economic isolation and food shortages. According to a report by Yonhap News Agency on February 6, there have been reports that dozens of people starve to death every day in Kaesong, which is directly under the central government.
(Associated Press, etc.)
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