North Korea leader brings 9 year old daughter to missile launch

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un brought an unexpected guest to a missile launch – his nine year old daughter. Kim took his daughter Ju Ae to the launch of a “new type” of intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday.

Before the rather unusual daddy-daughter day out, Ju Ae’s existence had not previously been confirmed.

Kim said the test was meant to “clearly demonstrate” North Korea’s ability to respond to “hysteric aggression war drills by the enemies seeking to destroy peace and stability in the Korean peninsula,” according to North Korean state media. State media agency KCNA said…

“Kim Jong Un solemnly declared that if the enemies continue to pose threats to the DPRK, frequently introducing nuclear strike means, our Party and government will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation.”

KNCA said Kim attended the launch with his “beloved daughter and wife.”

According to KNCA, the missile launched was the Hwasong-17, which analysts have called the “monster missile.”

This news comes after North Korea last week warned the US of a “fiercer military response” to US defence ties with South Korea and Japan. After the warning, North Korea launched yet another ballistic missile towards its eastern waters, according to officials in Seoul.

North Korea said in its statement that the warning was in response to trilateral talks between the US, South Korea, and Japan during the ASEAN summit. At the meeting, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed a commitment to defending South Korea and Japan with a “full range of capabilities,” including nuclear weapons, CNN reported.

A series of tit-for-tat conflicts began earlier this month after North Korea fired at least 10 missiles to the east and west of the Korean Peninsula.

A missile from North Korea landed close to South Korean waters for the first time since the countries split in 1945, according to South Korean officials.

On November 3, North Korea conducted what was believed to be a failed launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). A South Korean government source said the presumed Hwasong-17 ICBM successfully separated at the second stage, but is believed to have failed after that, and fell into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Following the seemingly failed ICBM launch, there were warnings in Japan for people to seek shelter in the northern prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata, and Niigata. Japan’s Defense Ministry later evaluated that the missile did not cross over Japan.

Time will tell what the erratic, isolated country does next.