North Korea kicked off the new year with fireworks, martial arts, and a fresh round of speculation about the regime's future. State media on Thursday reported that leader Kim Jong Un attended New Year's festivities in Pyongyang featuring patriotic songs, dances, and a taekwondo display. At his side: daughter Kim Ju Ae, who appeared in official photos sitting next to her father and holding his hand, reports Reuters. Her prominent presence will likely fuel ongoing assessments by outside analysts that she's being positioned as his eventual successor, though North Korea has made no such announcement.
In a holiday speech, Kim praised what he described as the population's efforts leading to "successes and phenomenal changes" in 2025, and urged unity ahead of a major political gathering expected in early 2026. That meeting, the Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers' Party, is set to outline five-year plans touching on the country's nuclear and weapons programs, as well as its struggling economy.
Kim also used the occasion to address North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, calling them the country's "greatest strength and pride and a strong pillar" in a message and telling them, "Be brave. Behind you are Pyongyang and Moscow," per the official Korean Central News Agency.