Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae drives tank

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a joint offensive drill involving a new main battle tank, the North's state media reported Friday, with photos showing his his daughter Ju-ae riding alongside him in the armored vehicle, the latest sign of her growing visibility at key military events.

The Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited the Pyongyang Training Base No. 60 under the Korean People’s Army’s Capital City Defence Corps a day earlier, where he observed “a coordinated offensive tactical drill of infantrymen’s and tankmen’s sub-units.”

Photos and footage released by North Korea’s state media showed Ju-ae, believed by some analysts to be her father’s potential successor, accompanying Kim during the inspection and riding in a tank with him during the exercise. Her continued presence at high-profile military activities has fueled speculation about her future political role.

Notably, Ju-ae was not mentioned in the KCNA report and appeared only in photos released by state media. North Korea has largely refrained from identifying her by name in official coverage, instead referring to her as Kim’s “beloved daughter” when she is mentioned, a pattern that has continued across her public appearances.

The drill featured “various tests” of the new main battle tank’s active protection system, which successfully intercepted anti-tank missiles and drones attacking from different directions, KCNA said, describing the results as proof of the system’s effectiveness.

Kim praised the tank as “very superior” and “unequaled in the world in its striking power and mobility,” while also highlighting its strong self-defense capabilities. He said the tank would be “extensively” deployed across ground forces.

Emphasizing the need to adapt to the changing nature of modern warfare, Kim called for continued improvements in weapons systems and stressed that such efforts should lead to "rapid successes in completing war preparations."

KCNA said the purpose of the drill was to familiarize troops with coordinated combat procedures and enhance their offensive capabilities in striking and breaching enemy anti-armor defense lines.

Pyongyang's exercise coincided with the final day of this year’s 11-day Freedom Shield drills, an annual South Korea-US joint exercise that North Korea routinely denounces as a war rehearsal.