North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un stepped out publicly with his daughter for the second time in recent weeks, sparking speculation that the girl (believed to be roughly 9 或者 10 岁) could succeed her father in time.

Photos released on Sunday by North Korean state media show Kim and his young daughter Ju-ae holding hands as they walk at an undisclosed location with North Korean soldiers.

As Reuters 报告, Kim said in remarks during the visit with his daughter that his goal is to “possess the world’s most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century.”

Kim first revealed his daughter earlier this month, as he oversaw the launch of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released photos of the leader, who it says watched the launch with his “beloved daughter” and wife Ri Sol Ju. 这 “新的” Hwasong-17 missile launched from Pyongyang International Airfield flew 999.2 kilometers, 或者 621 英里, 美国有线电视新闻网 报道, citing the KCNA.

As the 美联社 notes, KCNA’s description of Kim’s daughter has evolved in recent weeks, 从 “beloved” 十一月. 19, 到 “most beloved” 或者 “宝贵的” child on Sunday.

While Kim’s family and personal life has long been shrouded in secrecy, NPR 报道 that he and his wife have three children, 出生在 2010, 2013 和 2017.

早在 2013, basketball star Dennis Rodman — who is close with Kim — told the Guardian he had met Ju-ae, sharing the child’s first name as he shared he had a “relaxing time by the sea” with Kim and his family during a visit that year.

“I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with [Kim’s wife] 还有. He’s a good dad and has a beautiful family,” Rodman said at the time.

Kim has not yet publicly anointed a successor, though his recent appearances with his daughter have led some analysts to infer that she could eventually become his heir.

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As analyst Cheong Seong-Chang of Sejong Institute in South Korea told NPR earlier this month, “the children of Kim Jong-un would have the status of a prince or princess, like in a dynasty” under the current system in North Korea.

Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, echoed those thoughts to CBS News, saying that the recent photographs of Kim’s daughter” support the idea that this is the start of her being positioned as a potential successor.”

“State media underscoring her father’s love for her further underscores this, 我认为,” Panda told CBS. “最后, both of her initial public appearances have been in the context of strategic nuclear weapons — the crown jewels of North Korea’s national defense capabilities. That doesn’t strike me as coincidental.”