North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter drove an army tank with her father sitting behind her in photos published by state news agency KCNA on Friday, prompting analysts to suggest she may be being groomed as a successor.
Believed to be about 13 and referred to as Ju Ae, she has appeared increasingly often alongside her father in recent months. In the KCNA images she peers out of the driver’s hatch with a focused expression and hair blowing, while a grinning Kim leans on the turret and three uniformed officers sit on the hull.
Earlier this month she was photographed at a firing range aiming a rifle and on another occasion firing a handgun. North Korean authorities have not officially confirmed her name or age.
KCNA reported Kim supervised a drill of a new tank type that demonstrated superior offensive and defensive capabilities against drones and anti-tank missiles. In recent years Kim has pushed to modernize the country’s conventional forces, including tactical missiles, alongside the development of long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
