After North Korea party congress, Kim gifts rifles to officials, daughter

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presented new sniper rifles to top government and military officials following a weeklong governing party congress lauding his leadership.

State media highlighted an image of his teenage daughter taking aim at a shooting range as her increasingly prominent appearances stoke speculation that Kim is grooming her as a future leader.

Kim presented the rifles to senior party and military officials on Friday, calling them a sign of his “absolute trust” and gratitude for their commitment over the past five years since the last Workers’ Party of Korea congress in 2021, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday.

The report also confirmed that Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, who in recent years has served as his fierce spokesperson with hostile rhetoric directed towards the United States and South Korea, now serves as the general affairs director of the party’s central committee, following a promotion.

Her new title signals a broader role overseeing the party’s internal operations and administrative affairs.

State media photos showed Kim Yo Jong and other top officials aiming the rifles handed out by Kim Jong Un at a shooting range. Kim’s young daughter, wearing a brown leather coat similar to her father’s, was also seen handling a weapon.

Since first appearing in public at a long-range missile test in November 2022, the girl – believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and about 13 years old – has accompanied her father to a growing number of events, including military demonstrations, factory openings and a trip to Beijing in September, where Kim Jong Un held his first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years.

The party congress, which concluded on Wednesday with a military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, after seven days, is North Korea’s most significant political event, held every five years since 2016, and a carefully choreographed spectacle glorifying Kim’s leadership before some 5,000 delegates.

At this year’s meetings, Kim reiterated his plans to accelerate North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, which already is equipped with various weapons systems threatening the US and its allies in Asia, and confirmed his hardline view of rival South Korea.

Earlier this week, Kim dismissed dialogue with South Korea, claiming his forces could “completely destroy” his southern neighbour, while signalling that the future of talks with the US required Washington to discard “hostile” policies towards Pyongyang.

If Washington “respects our country’s current status as stipulated in the Constitution … and withdraws its hostile policy … there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the United States”, Kim said on Wednesday, as the country wrapped up the week of meetings.