North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae attended New Year’s celebrations including fireworks and an ice dancing display, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.
Senior North Korean officials joined them in watching the events, state media photos showed.
There was no mention of any speech by Kim.
Footage shows the dictator walking down a red carpet while holding his beaming daughter’s hand as they arrived to watch the fireworks display and ring in the new year.
A seperate clip shows Kim waving at a cheering crowd.
KCNA said on the previous day that Kim had pledged to solidify the country’s comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia in a letter to President Vladimir Putin.
The father-daughter outing comes amid mounting speculation that Ju Ae could be the next in line to rule North Korea.
The young girl, who is believed to be around 12 years old, has been described by North Korea’s state media as a ‘great person of guidance’ – a term typically reserved exclusively for top leaders and their successors.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae attend an event to celebrate the New Year, in Pyongyang
The father-daughter outing comes amid mounting speculation that Ju Ae could be the next in line to rule North Korea
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un waving as he attends a performance to celebrate the New Year at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang
The daughter of Kim and First Lady Ri Sol Ju, Ju Ae was hidden away from foreign media through childhood until American former basketball player Dennis Rodman revealed her existence following a visit to North Korea in 2013.
But little was known about Ju Ae, believed to be the middle child of three, until she made her first public appearance at the time of a missile launch in November 2022.
In 2022, it was still believed the Supreme Leader’s eldest sister, Kim Yo Jong, was being lined up to replace him as the fourth-generation of leaders under the Kim Dynasty.
Yo Jong is still Deputy Department Director for the country’s quasi-Orwellian ‘Publicity and Information Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea’, and still could take the top job.
Meanwhile, the North Korean press’ glowing references to Ju Ae suggest her father may instead be grooming her for succession.
She has been seen at many of her father’s official engagements, including military drills, missile launches, a visit to a weapons factory, and a stop at a new chicken farm.