After taking his daughter on a trip to the North Korean space station, Kim Jong-un has kept her in the spotlight.
Kim Ju-ae, the dictator’s daughter, accompanied him as he was photographed being toured through various parts of the nation’s space headquarters.
Kim Jong-un was spotted chatting to officials who were taking notes while smoking. While wearing a pinstripe suit, it may not have been as eye-catching as the Tom Cruise in Top Gun appearance he has previously chosen.
Even as his daughter watched, he appeared to have time for a quick laugh and a joke.
It’s not the first time the 11-year-old has been centre stage in recent months, with the pair showing up together more frequently for events and duties.
Father-daughter time has been a regular fixture as they were both spotted watching a special anniversary football match in images released yesterday.
Just last week, the whole family came together to watch the test of North Korea’s ‘most powerful missile yet’.
Meanwhile, Kim Ju-ae was pictured sitting next to her dad to observe the army simulating an attack on an unspecified South Korean airfield in March.
Speculation has continued over whether she is being prepared to succeed her father as the country’s next dictator in future.
And this latest stop off at the National Aerospace Development Administration will have done little to quell those theories.
During the visit, Kim Jong-un said North Korea has completed the development of its first military spy satellite, according to state media reports today.
Officials have been ordered to go ahead with the launch as planned by Kim Jong-un, who said developing reconnaissance is part of the nation’s efforts to counter ‘serious security threats’ from the US and South Korea.
He said several satellites would be necessary to establish North Korea’s intelligence-gathering capability and urged the deployments to go ahead but has not yet confirmed a launch date, reports Al Jazeera.
North Korea carried out a ‘final phase’ test for a spy satellite in December 2022 and said it would complete preparations for the launch by the end of this month.
Kim Jong-un said at the time: ‘Securing real-time information about the hostile forces’ military scenario is the most important task.’