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The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated country.
Despite her young age, “it appears the regime is trying to cultivate the image of a strong and formidable woman”, Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, told AFP.
“The pistol-shooting scene clearly serves to signal that she is cultivating the attributes of a military leader.”
Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
Before then, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited the North in 2013.
