North Korea Releases Photos of Kim Jong Un's Daughter Firing Rifle, What Is the Significance?
North Korea has released rare photographs showing Ju Ae, the daughter of the nation’s leader Kim Jong Un, firing a rifle at a shooting range. The photographs have intensified speculation that Ju Ae is being prepared as her father’s successor.
Ju Ae, Kim Jong Un’s adolescent daughter, has long been regarded as the likely successor to lead the isolated, nuclear-armed state, according to reports from the Agence France-Presse news agency on Saturday, 28 February 2026.
She has been involved in a series of public appearances in recent weeks, including participation in a military parade this week marking the conclusion of a major congress of the ruling Korean Labour Party.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released photographs on Saturday, 28 February, showing Ju Ae holding a rifle at an open shooting range. She is depicted aiming through a rifle scope, her finger on the trigger, with smoke emerging from the rifle barrel.
Ju Ae was wearing a leather jacket-like garment, the type of clothing frequently worn by her and her father at major political events, symbolising authority and legitimacy.
The KCNA reported that Kim Jong Un had presented a new sniper rifle to senior party and military officials of North Korea. The agency described this action as a gesture of reward and “absolute trust”.
Kim Jong Un subsequently visited the shooting range with these officials, where he fired a rifle and posed for photographs.
The release of Ju Ae’s photographs followed an announcement by South Korea’s intelligence agency that Pyongyang appears to have begun the formal process of appointing Ju Ae as Kim Jong Un’s successor.
Yang Moo Jin, former president of the Institute for North Korean Studies at Seoul National University, told the Agence France-Presse that by highlighting Ju Ae’s ability to handle and fire weapons, the photographs “demonstrate that she is indeed receiving training as a successor”.
In its Saturday, 28 February report, the KCNA also stated that Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, would lead the party’s general affairs department – a position described by analysts as equivalent to party secretary general.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for several decades, and the cult of personality surrounding their “Paektu bloodline” dominates daily life in the isolated nation.