Kim Jong Un, daughter watch cruise missile tests from warship amid US–South Korea drills

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter observed tests of strategic cruise missiles fired from a warship, state media reported Wednesday, as North Korea threatened responses to joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.

Images released by the Korean Central News Agency showed the two in a conference room watching a screen displaying weapons being launched from the naval destroyer Choe Hyon, a warship that entered service about a year ago.

Kim Jong Un monitored Tuesday’s missile launches via video and stressed the need to maintain “a powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA reported, without mentioning his daughter in its dispatch.

The girl, widely reported to be Kim Ju Ae, around 13, has accompanied her father to several high-profile events—including military parades and weapons tests—since late 2022. Last month, National Intelligence Service in South Korea assessed that Kim Jong Un could be preparing to designate her as his successor.

According to KCNA, the missiles struck target islands off North Korea’s west coast. Kim said the tests were intended to demonstrate the navy’s strategic offensive capability and help troops gain familiarity with live weapons launches.

Kim had personally observed similar cruise missile launches from the Choe Hyon last week, although his daughter did not appear at that event.

Tuesday’s launches followed the start of the annual US–South Korea Freedom Shield military drills, which Pyongyang routinely condemns as preparations for an invasion.

On Tuesday, Kim’s sister and senior official Kim Yo Jong warned the exercises once again reveal what she called the United States and South Korea’s “inveterate repugnancy” toward North Korea, adding that Pyongyang would “convince the enemies of our war deterrence.”

The 11-day Freedom Shield drill, which began Monday, is primarily a computer-simulated command-post exercise and is accompanied by field training activities. North Korea frequently responds to the drills with its own weapons tests.