There have been rumors that Ju Ae may be prepared as a future successor to the leadership.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a weapons factory on Wednesday, state media KCNA reported, releasing photos showing him touring the factory with his teenage daughter and the two testing handguns.
KCNA said that during the visit, Kim inspected weapons production and called for modernizing the process.
Kim was quoted as saying that the factory “plays a very important role in enhancing the military’s combat capability.”
According to KCNA, he stressed the need to increase the factory’s production capacity “with a long-term vision.”
According to KCNA, Kim, who often tries to showcase the nuclear-armed country’s military might, was recently shown overseeing the test-firing of a strategic cruise missile from a newly launched destroyer.
State media photos showed that Kim’s daughter, known as Ju Ae, accompanied her father on the tour of the weapons factory. They were both wearing black leather jackets, and Joo Ae was shown participating in shooting drills with military officers.
There is speculation that Joo Ae is being groomed as a potential leadership successor.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers last month that there are signs that Kim’s daughter is providing input on policy matters, suggesting she is “in the stage of becoming an interim successor.”