Kim Jong-un is using his teenage daughter to send a clear message to the United States about his nuclear arsenal, an expert has claimed.
One expert has suggested a chilling reason behind Kim's behavior, claiming it's not as innocent as it first appears.
Kim and his daughter Kim Ju-ae are regularly seen embracing and kissing in public but one expert believes there is a sinister reason for the North Korean leader's PDA.
Their interactions often involve touching each other's faces and kissing each other's cheeks, leading one North Korean expert to suggest this unusual display of affection is part of a “psychological game”.
Woodrow Wilson Center fellow Dr Sung-Yoon Lee believes the father-daughter public displays of affection are a carefully “choreographed” act, designed to mask the regime's inherent danger while setting the stage for succession.
Dr Lee stated: “The father and the daughter exhibiting affection, love for each other, often touching the other's face, the girl cupping the father's face and vice versa all this is choreographed.
“North Korea is arguably the most highly-choreographed theater state in the world. Nothing just happens on a whim spontaneously.
“So when you choreograph these scenes the father looking like a loving dad and the cute-looking daughter showing affection for her father it's a wholesome family ensemble that favors North Korea.”
He remarked that by showcasing the young girl, North Korea is engaging in a psychological tactic against the US and the West, conveying the notion that disarming North Korea is an exceedingly difficult, if not impossible task.
Dr Lee commented: “It says: 'Look, Kim Jong-un obviously is a cruel dictator, but he obviously loves his daughter, maybe he's even a family man he cares for his family, obviously.'
“He wouldn't start a nuclear war, would he? He wouldn't be crazy enough to start a nuclear war. So maybe, just maybe, we'll just have to resign ourselves to living with a nuclear North Korea.”
The expert argued that Kim Jong-un is using this gesture to signal to the American leadership that North Korea's nuclear capabilities are here to stay.
He observed: “He's saying 'my nukes are here to stay. We are a dynasty, whereas you gentlemen, you'll be forgotten five years from now. My power, my nukes, will be handed down to my next generation, to whomever I anoint as the next leader, so we have all the time in the world'.”
Dr Lee suggested that the strategy of the dictator making public appearances with his “cute-looking” daughter while keeping his secret son hidden is “clever”.
He explained: “Most of us would take a more negative view of the father going to public events with his 10 or 12-year-old boy.”
“We would be prone to saying: 'Oh, look at that crazy regime; they're preparing for a third father-to-son succession, they'll never change'. Whereas today, looking at the father-daughter ensemble, we 're more prone to thinking in political-drama soap-opera terms.”
“So we're asking: will we ever see the rise of a female supreme leader in North Korea? Does he have a son? What's going on? And so on.”