North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of a “new type” of intercontinental ballistic missile and brought along his daughter, whose first official appearance in state media gave a hint of succession plans in the Cold War’s last continuous family dynasty, reported Bloomberg.
Kim, who himself had been absent from public view for about a month, was shown in the country’s main newspaper Rodong Sinmun in photos with his daughter, including one where they hold hands and walk in front of the missile as it sits on a launcher.
The ICBM launch on Friday came after Pyongyang warned the US to halt allied military drills in the region or face retribution.
The state’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday that Kim was present at the test site with “his beloved daughter and wife” in order to “personally guide the whole course of the test-fire.”
KCNA said the Hwasong-17 ICBM was launched at Pyongyang International Airport and traveled at a maximum altitude of 6,041 kilometers (3,753 miles) for 999 kilometers before landing in waters to the east of the country.
The flight data from North Korea was in line with numbers released by South Korea and Japan, which added the missile had an implied range of more than 15,000 kilometers – enough to reach the US.
