SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The daughter of North Korean chief Kim Jong-un who was just lately seen in public for the primary time at a missile launch web site is his second little one aged about 10, South Korea’s spy company advised lawmakers Tuesday, as hypothesis swirled about his motives for bringing her to the eye of the surface world.

On Saturday, North Korea stated that Kim noticed the launch of the nation’s strongest intercontinental ballistic missile — Hwasong-17 — yesterday together with his spouse Ri Sol-ju and their “beloved daughter.” State media launched pictures exhibiting Kim strolling hand-in-hand with a younger lady clad in a white coat and crimson sneakers previous an enormous missile positioned on a launch truck, and watching a hovering weapon from a distance.

In a closed-door briefing at a parliament committee, South Korea’s Nationwide Intelligence Service, the nation’s foremost spy company, advised lawmakers that it assesses the daughter is Kim’s second little one named Ju Ae and aged round 10, Yoo Sang-bum, one of many lawmakers who attended the assembly, stated.

The NIS decided she is Kim’s second little one as a result of her appears matched data that she’s taller and larger than different ladies who’re the identical age, Yoo cited the NIS as saying.

Youn Kun-young, who additionally attended the NIS assembly, stated he additionally was briefed that she is Kim’s second little one however refused to offer additional particulars.

The NIS stated it can’t verify the lawmakers’ feedback. It usually neither confirms nor denies the contents of its personal briefings offered at parliament. The NIS has a spotty file in confirming developments in North Korea, one of many world’s most secretive nations.

The daughter apparently is Kim’s little one who retired NBA star Dennis Rodman noticed throughout his journey to Pyongyang in 2013. After that Pyongyang go to, Rodman advised the British newspaper Guardian that he and Kim had a “enjoyable time by the ocean” with the chief’s household and that he held Kim’s child daughter, named Ju Ae.

It was the primary time North Korea formally confirmed her existence. North Korea’s state media didn’t disclose the age, title and different particulars of Kim’s daughter final week. South Korean media have speculated Kim married Ri in 2009 and that they’ve three kids, who had been born in 2010, 2013 and 2017, respectively. Some experiences stated Kim’s first little one is a son and the third one is a daughter.

Kim, 38, is a 3rd technology of his household to run North Korea since 1948. He inherited energy in late 2011 upon the demise of his father Kim Jong Il.

Kim and his father had been each first talked about in state media dispatches after they grew to become adults. Provided that, the revealing of the daughter believed to be in her early teenagers got here as a shock to exterior observers.

Some consultants say the daughter’s disclosing at a missile take a look at web site confirmed that Kim was emboldened by his advancing nuclear arsenal, the spine of his household’s rule. Others speculate if Kim continues to carry her to main public occasions, that would recommend that Kim may need her as his early inheritor obvious in his thoughts.

North Korea’s foremost Rodong Sinmun newspaper stated Sunday that it’ll proceed to broaden its nuclear arsenal to make sure “the brilliant smiles and delightful goals of our future generations” Some observers linked the article to the daughter’s presence, saying Kim may need revealed her to emphasize the justification of his nuclear ambitions or present it’s his household that governs the nation’s nuclear and missile packages.