Kim Jong-un’s relationship with daughter under scrutiny after New Year’s cheek kiss

A Japan-based media outlet called a moment in which Kim Ju-ae, the daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, kissed her father on the cheek at a New Year’s performance in Pyongyang “unusual.” 

Daily NK Japan, a Tokyo-based outlet focused on North Korean affairs, published an online article on December 5, the title of which translates to “Is this a normal father-daughter relationship? The strange behavior of Kim Jong-un and his daughter that is stirring controversy.” The report cited footage of a New Year’s celebration broadcast by Korean Central Television on January 1.

The outlet said the pair “engaged in what could be described as excessive physical contact throughout the event,” adding that “nearby officials were occasionally seen averting their gaze or appearing visibly uncomfortable.”

At the event, Kim Ju-ae sat between Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and watched the performance while holding her father’s hand and whispering to him, openly displaying their closeness.

“This is not the first time that Kim Jong-un and his daughter have drawn attention for their unusual behavior,” the outlet said, citing a report by the South Korean independent media outlet Sand Times.

The outlet noted that at a hotel completion ceremony in December last year, the two were seen standing unusually close “like a couple,” allegedly prompting reactions within North Korea that described the scene as “disgusting” and “beyond a normal father-daughter relationship.”

Daily NK Japan concluded that “the strange behavior that Kim Jong-un and Ju-ae openly display appears to go beyond a rational attempt to stage a succession narrative, instead reflecting distortions and anxieties inherent in the North Korean system itself, seemingly without self-awareness.”

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]