SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has driven a tank during army training supervised by her father, the pair's latest joint public appearance fueling outside speculation that the girl is groomed as Kim's heir.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday that Kim oversaw an offensive tactical drill involving tank units and infantry troops a day earlier and called for completing war preparations.
Video and images released by state media showed Kim's daughter sticking her head out of the driver’s hatch of a moving, olive green tank while her smiling father sat on top with three soldiers.
Observers say the girl's position clearly showed she was driving the armored vehicle, her first such activity. But they note modern tanks are not technically complicated to pilot, especially while moving slowly for a brief time.
“She only drove straight at a low speed. It's also easy to drive modern tanks, and I think it was easier for her to drive as she was on a flat ground,” said Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea.
The girl, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about 13, has accompanied her father to a number of high-profile military and other events since late 2022. North Korean state media has called her Kim Jong Un’s “most beloved” or “respected” child and published footage and photos indicating the two's closeness.
They recently fired pistols during a visit to a light munitions factory and watched a live-fire test of multiple rocket launch systems. In September, the girl went to Beijing with her father. During New Years’ Day celebrations she kissed him on the cheek.
South Korea’s spy agency assessed last month Kim Jong Un was close to designating her as his heir. Some experts disagree with that assessment, citing Kim Jong Un’s relatively young age and the extremely male-dominated nature of North Korea’s power hierarchy.
The North Korean training, meanwhile, came as the U.S. and South Korea were engaged in their annual military exercises that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The U.S. and South Korea wrapped up their 11-day computer-simulated command post exercise on Thursday, but they are still continuing field training.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, and his daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, visit a military training base in North Korea, Thursday, March 19, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows its leader Kim Jong Un, front right, his daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, and other soldiers on a tank at a military training base in North Korea, Thursday, March 19, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 11, 2026--
COOCON (CEO Kim Jong-hyun, KOSDAQ 294570), a South Korean leading business data platform company, announced that it has joined the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) as a Silver Member on June 1.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260611787103/en/
AAIF, an open-source foundation for agentic AI, is a global consortium under the Linux Foundation that brings together over 180 members, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Circle, Tron, and Stripe. The foundation is dedicated to developing and governing open standards and protocols designed to enhance interoperability among AI agents, playing a key role in advancing global standardization across the AI industry.
By joining AAIF, COOCON plans to broaden its global network and pursue deeper collaboration with leading AI agent companies. The company also aims to strengthen its technological foundation by participating in working groups related to AI agent payments and AI-based data businesses built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Through these initiatives, it seeks to secure next-generation capabilities in payment and data technologies while reinforcing its competitiveness in the global market.
As AI agents rapidly evolve beyond product discovery and purchase recommendations to execute actual payments, payment service providers are increasingly expected to serve as core infrastructure partners that enable secure and efficient transactions for AI agents. Against this backdrop, COOCON’s participation in AAIF is set to further strengthen its position as an infrastructure company leading the AI agent era across both the payment and data sectors.
COOCON provides payment, withdrawal, and settlement services through an extensive infrastructure network comprising 2 million QR merchants, 100,000 franchise partners, and 40,000 ATMs. The company has also continued to enhance the competitiveness of its domestic and global payment infrastructure by completing integrations with major global payment networks, including UnionPay, WeChat Pay, Alipay+, and QRIS, Indonesia’s national QR payment standard.
In addition, COOCON operates a business data platform that connects data from approximately 500 domestic institutions and 2,000 financial institutions in more than 40 countries through over 300 APIs. The company is currently transitioning toward an MCP-based architecture to enable AI systems to utilize data more efficiently.
Leveraging technological collaboration and standardization activities within AAIF, COOCON plans to accelerate the expansion of its global payment and stablecoin businesses. The company will adopt international standards across its infrastructure to enhance global compatibility, while focusing its capabilities on three key growth areas for this year: global payments, stablecoins, and AI-based data businesses.
Kim Jong-hyun, CEO of COOCON, said, “The latest participation marks an important milestone for COOCON as we move toward full-scale global expansion, alongside the establishment of our Singapore subsidiary.” He added, “Through technological exchange and collaboration with global companies, COOCON will further strengthen its competitiveness in payment and data technologies to respond proactively to the emerging AI agent era.”
He underscored, “By using our AAIF activities as a strategic foundation, we will evolve from a data platform company into an AI-based data company and create new growth opportunities in the global market.”
COOCON has officially joined the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) as a Silver Member (Image: COOCON)
