‘I thought it was very, very impressive, but I understood the reason they were doing it.’

Kim Jong-un’s daughter – often seen as the frontrunner to become North Korea’s next leader – has made her international debut.

The dictator and his daughter Kim Ju-ae arrived in China’s capital of Beijing last night for the military parade in Tienanmen Square today.

Her presence is a big deal – considering that until three years ago, she had not been publicly introduced.

But the North Korean leader may be looking to present the teenager to his allies as his successor for when he eventually decides to step down.

After the special train carrying ​Kim’s entourage pulled into Beijing Railway Station,​ Ju-ae stood close to him as he was greeted by Chinese officials​, according to photos released by North Korean state media.

It is the first known international appearance by the girl, who has attended multiple weapons tests in North Korea alongside her father.

In fact, Ju-ae was first introduced into the world when she accompanied him to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But it was the former American NBA star Dennis Rodman who first slipped up about her existence after travelling to the recluse nation.

According to Rodman, during his 2013 visit to Pyongyang, Kim introduced him to his wife Ri Sol Ju and a baby girl, saying ‘that’s my daughter.’

State media have never identified her by name, but South Korean intelligence says she is Ju-ae, the daughter of Kim and his wife, who they believe married in 2009.

In recent years, North Korean state media have referred to her as the ‘the beloved child,’ or ‘the esteemed child’.

Also in state media, North Korean adults have been shown bowing deeply before her.

At recent public appearances, she has often walked ahead of both her aunt – powerful regime spokeswoman Kim Yo Jong – and mother, linking arms with her father, whispering to him, and holding hands.

South Korean analysts have said that Kim appears to be grooming her as an heir.

But others disagree, citing his relative young age – just 41 – and the extremely male-dominated nature of North Korea’s power hierarchy.

Since its foundation in 1948, the country has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family: Kim’s father Kim Jong Il and his grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung.

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Kim Jong-un’s paranoia was on full display after a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of China’s World War II military parade.

Even surrounded by allies, like the Russian president, North Korea’s leader is going to extraordinary lengths to protect himself while travelling abroad.

Footage shared on a Russian Telegram channel showed staff ‘destroying’ all traces that the dictator had attended the bilateral talks in Beijing. 

They were seen taking away the glass he drank from and vigorously wiping down his seat and every part of furniture he had touched with wet wipes.

The most colourful explanation to the weird behaviour is Kim’s persecution complex.

Whatever the exact reason, the leader has long feared high-ranking traitors and defectors, and has faced multiple assassination plots – one allegedly organised by the CIA.

Less than a year ago, in October, the South Korean National Intelligence Service told parliament that Kim’s security detail had expanded its efforts to protect him, including by using communication-jamming devices and drone detection equipment.

The spy agency did not cite a specific threat against Kim – but noted that despite threats to his safety, he has been making more frequent public appearances.

In his own country, his appearances are normally carefully managed, with any foreigners present forced to go through hours-long security checks beforehand.

The exact security operation around Kim’s trip to Beijing remains veiled, but it is expected that he is flanked by security at all times.

Joined by Putin, he travelled from a formal reception to the negotiations in the same car, the Kremlin said in a post on social media.

After a bilateral meeting between Russian and North Korean delegations, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting. 

Putin also invited Kim to visit Russia again, following on from the North Korean leader’s last visit to the country in 2023.

Speaking in front of journalists as the talks began, Putin praised the bravery and heroism of North Korean soldiers who fought alongside his own troops to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last year.

It has also sent large quantities of military equipment, including ballistic missiles and artillery, to help fuel Putin’s three-year invasion of Ukraine.

In his opening remarks, Kim said that cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has ‘significantly strengthened’ since the two countries signed a strategic partnership pact in June last year during a summit in the North Korean capital.

Although he did not specifically mention the war, Kim stressed that ‘if there is anything I can do for you and the people of Russia, if there is more that needs to be done, I will consider it as a fraternal duty, an obligation that we surely need to bear, and will be prepared to do everything possible to help.’

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New nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), giant underwater drones and laser weapons have been unveiled in China’s military parade today in a show of strength against the West.

China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un grinned as the weapons were being displayed during the commemoration of the end of World War II in Beijing.

This is the Chinese leader’s third parade on Tienanmen Square – equaling the total of his three immediate predecessors – so he has proven that he knows how to throw on a good spectacle for other authoritarians.

Much of the weaponry and equipment in the parade is being shown to the public for the first time, according to Chinese media.

One of them is the DF-5C, a new variant of the Dongfeng-5 nuclear ICBM, which is carrying as many as 12 warheads.

It is a two-stage missile that uses liquid fuel, which means its trajectory is propelled by two consecutive rocket stages, each with its own engine.

The missile is capable of striking targets across the globe, including the Western Europe and mainland America.

Hypersonic anti-ship missiles – which China has previously tested against mock-ups of US aircraft carriers – were also paraded.

Those included the Yingji-19, Yingji-17 and Yingji-20.

Multiple other cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles – some equipped with ‘all-weather combat capabilities’ – were shown off as well.

The parade featured drones that can operate underwater and in the air, as well as unmanned helicopters designed to be launched from ships.

The AJX002 underwater drone was a standout.

With a long, black tube-shaped craft, it looks like a narrow submarine with a rear propeller.

The sea-based systems included submarines, surface vessels and a mine-laying system.

Another anticipated weapon was also unveiled – the LY-1 laser, which was mounted on top of an eight-wheeler HZ-155 armoured truck.

As Metro reported yesterday, this is billed to be the ‘world’s most powerful laser defence system’.

Marching in the parade were the traditional People’s Liberation Army (PLA) units from the navy and army, but also new ones like the cyberspace unit.

The new unit is in charge of cybersecurity defense measures, according to the official Xinhua news agency, and also participated in live-fire drills.

Another debut was the information support force, created in 2024 to build network information systems to support military combat readiness.

This is the first major military parade in the People’s Republic since 2019 on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China.

Yet, for many in the West, the defining image of the grand show of military might is not the parade of nuclear missiles, stealth fighter jets, or drones.

It is the sight of Xi, Putin and Kim standing side by side, smiling and joking in an unprecedented show of solidarity against the West.

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Rehearsals for the event in Beijing showed the new weapon mounted on an eight-wheeled truck (Picture: X)

A new weapon dubbed ‘the most powerful laser air defence system in the world’ is expected to be unveiled in China tomorrow…

Beijing’s nuclear power giants are using Britain to safeguard their designs

African elephants confined to ‘tiny prison cells’ without access to water. Polar bears locked indoors with nothing but a ‘dirty’ pool. Dogs stuffed into cramped cages.

These are some of the distressing scenes confronting tourists at Beijing Zoo, where concerns are mounting over the treatment and welfare of the animals.

Edina Delic, from Dublin, spoke with Metro about the conditions in China’s oldest public zoo in the Xicheng District of the capital that left her in floods of tears.

The 29-year-old was on a holiday in Beijing when she visited the park – an area of 80 hectares that is also known as a centre for zoological research that studies and breeds rare animals from across the world.

‘It is very famous for the Panda House and I had never seen pandas before,’ she explained.

What Edina witnessed inside has left her ‘distraught’ and she still tears up as she recalls the suffering of the animals.

An enclosure with monkeys near the entrance drew her attention first. She said: ‘The number of monkeys was crazy and they did not look in the best condition, judging by their coats.

‘We were then totally taken back when we moved onto the polar bear – in a totally empty enclosure indoors with nothing but a dirty pool. The bear was sleeping and looked very unwell.’

Edina then witnessed African elephants ‘segregated into individual cages’, which she estimated allowed them to take two steps in each direction.

Asian elephants – which are significantly smaller that African ones – were also in the same conditions.

‘This totally broke me. These beautiful giants are pacing these tiny jail cells with not even water in the enclosure,’ she described the conditions.

‘One of the smaller elephants was smashing this wooden ball against the thick metal bars in clear distress looking for attention. I burst into tears and had to leave… I walked out from the building and was so distraught by what I just witnessed.’

Distressed, Edina approached a zoo keeper and asked her if the elephantsever leave their cages.

She was informed that the outdoor enclosure is currently under renovation.

Inside the children’s section of the zoo, there wasa row of about 15 cages and large kennels, each stuffed with various dog breeds – Dalmatian, Shiba, Australian Shepard, Cockapoos, Huskies and Corgis.

Some of them had their fur dyed, and Edina said many of them had mange and a range of eye infections. She added that children could select one of the puppies to play with.

Edina described their health as ‘gut-wrenching’, adding: ‘I couldn’t even bear a picture of these beautiful little babies.

‘They tried to bark but their vocal cords had been clipped as it wasn’t even close to a bark. You can imagine how much they would have been barking in these conditions.

‘I left with such a heavy heart. I am crying again recalling it all.’

Metro discussed some of the disturbing behaviour the animals showed in the videos taken by Edina with Dr Audrey Delsink, from Humane World for Animals Africa.

Elephants, for example, are long-lived, highly social animals who require extensive home ranges to meet their needs. On average, they walk up to 30 miles per day.

Dr Delsink said that when confined in small spaces, they suffer ‘extensive’ clinical, physiological, behavioural and neural problems because of a lack of exercise and mental stimulation, amounting to a trauma response.

This often manifests itself as repetitive behaviours such as head-swaying, bobbing, resting and banging against a wall, and has been suggested to even be a coping-mechanism for stress.

She said: ‘It can lead to poor physical health and ailments and reduced life expectancy. Such behaviours can be seen in elephants often within a few weeks to months of being in captivity.’

It is estimated that up to 85% of elephants kept in zoos and 100% of those kept in circuses engage in such behaviour.

Dr Peter Li, policy expert, stressed it is ‘not unheard of’ for some zoos in China to dye the fur of dogs to look like other animals.

‘This doesn’t align with the ethical treatment of dogs or any animal but alas many zoos across China have woefully inadequate standards in terms of animal welfare and wellbeing,’ he told Metro.

There have also been recent examples of Chow Chows being dyed black and white to look like pandas, and orange and black to look like tigers.

Dr Li explained that zoos in China do not operate under the internationally-recognised standards.

Some Western practices have been implemented, but the conditions in a typical zoo in China fall short, he said.

‘Chinese zoos are a huge business empire where animals are commodities for profit,’ the expert added.

‘Many zoos are rogue facilities with no educational or welfare element at all, and some even subject animals to cruel and demeaning circus-like acts.

‘Instead of being truly educational facilities, they in fact do the opposite because the animals can be so depressed and inactive in their barren and small environments, that the paying public see nothing of the true nature of wild animals as they would behave in the wild where they belong.’ 

Metro has contacted the China Zoo Association (CZA) for a comment.

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