North Korean leader presents new sniper rifles to party officials

SEOUL, Feb 28 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presented new sniper rifles as ceremonial gifts to party and military officials, calling them a “wonderful weapon” and a sign of his trust, state media KCNA news agency said on Saturday.

KCNA reported Kim met leading cadres and commanding officers at the headquarters of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Friday and handed each a new-generation rifle developed by the country’s Academy of Defence Science.

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"As was already made public, this new-generation sniper’s rifle our Academy of Defence Science developed and produced is really a wonderful weapon,” Kim was quoted as saying.

The gifts were presented to mark the Ninth Congress of the party.

Recipients included members of the party’s Central Military Commission, senior commanders of the Korean People’s Army and guard units, as well as Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong, whom KCNA for the first time identified as director of the General Affairs Department of the party’s Central Committee.

Photographs published by KCNA showed Kim’s teenage daughter, known as Ju Ae, attending the gift ceremony and aiming a rifle at a firing range.

Ju Ae, believed to be in her early teens, has been increasingly prominent in state media, accompanying her father on field guidance including inspections of weapons projects amid speculation by analysts that she is being groomed as the country’s fourth-generation leader.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) believes the public role indicates she has started to provide policy input and that she is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader.

KCNA also released a photograph of Kim Yo Jong holding a rifle alongside Hyon Song Wol, an aide to the North Korean leader who is known to be close to his wife.

North Korea wrapped up its week-long Ninth Congress with a military parade.

Reporting by Heekyong Yang, Jack Kim and Sebin Choi; Editing by Sam Holmes

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