Kim Jong-un may be passing down his legacy to his 9-year-old daughter

Last Friday Kim Jong-un, while being accompanied by his family, supervised the launch of another inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The escalation continues

An ICBM is a missile that can travel long distances, exceeding 5,000 km (or 3106 miles) and is usually built and used to carry nuclear bombs.

According to the US State Department, this is North Korea's eighth ICBM test launch in 2022, CNBC reports.

Jong-un has broken a new record this year for the number of rocket launches, and in recent weeks the situation between North Korea and the US has reached a boiling point.

A year that makes experts agree there is no turning back for Jong-un in terms of returning to any negotiation table for aborting his country’s nuclear program or relinquishing his nuclear weapon arsenal.

Jenny Town, a US-based expert on North Korea, thinks his daughter's presence means their nuclear program is 'here to stay':

For those thinking #NorthKorea was just upping the ante to re-enter negotiations, this seems to suggest otherwise. Just as declarations about the nuclear program are no longer conditional — this seems to reinforce the nuke program is here to stay.

As a response to Jong-un’s actions last week, the US authorised a show of force with the fly-overnear North Korea of two supersonic bombers. These modern aircraft are strategic units which fly faster than the speed of sound and carry ‘heavy bombs’ like nuclear weapons.

The ‘Friday family affair’

CNBC has called the missile launch where Jong-un was accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol J, and daughter the ‘Friday family affair’.

It is the first time Jong-un has presented his daughter to the world. Although North Korean state media did not reference her name or age in their reporting, sources suggest Jong-un’s daughter, Ju Ae, is approximately nine years old, CNN reports.

While many are baffled why Jong-un would take his daughter to a missile launch, analysts describe her appearance next to her father as a show of passing down a legacy and preparing his people for a continuation of the Kim dynasty from the third to the fourth generation.

Sources used:

-CNN: ‘Kim Jong Un took his daughter to a missile launch and no one is quite sure why’

-CNBC: ‘Kim Jong Un reveals his daughter to the world at latest ballistic missile launch’