The daughter of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Ju Ae, made her second public appearance on Sunday. The 10-year-old attended the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong-17, on Sunday, furthering debate that the child is being lined up to succeed the nuclear-obsessed and strictly patriarchal Korean dictatorship, the Daily Beast reports.
“Kim may be signaling to other North Korean elites that he is mentoring his daughter for a role in the leadership,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told the AP. “Giving her such an early and public start is unusual but reflects the historical and political significance Kim attaches to a nuclear missile that can reach the United States.” Ju Ae is speculated to be the second of Kim’s three children, drawing pushback from strategists and analysts who say it’s too soon to speculate on Kim’s succession before his first born, a son, is publicly revealed.
