{"id":4927,"date":"2026-05-06T06:11:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T06:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/4927\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T06:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T06:11:22","slug":"north-koreas-kim-pets-puppies-kittens-at-pyongyang-pet-shop-channels-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/4927\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea’s Kim Pets Puppies, Kittens At Pyongyang Pet Shop \u2022 Channels Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un petted puppies and kittens with his delighted daughter as they toured a new Pyongyang housing district, state media said Friday.<\/p>\n

The Hwasong area, formerly mostly farmland, is a newly developed residential district with about 40,000 housing units built through a series of projects launched in 2022 under Kim\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n

It is part of a broader construction push in the capital and across the diplomatically isolated, poor country aimed at improving living standards after years of Western sanctions and state-controlled economic policies.<\/p>\n

\"\"This undated picture released by North Korea\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 3, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Kim Ju Ae (R) inspecting a pet shop awaiting the opening of the fourth-stage district of the Hwasong Area in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Streets of the district were \u201cbrimming with the joy and excitement of citizens who greeted the auspicious event of moving into new houses\u201d, Pyongyang\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, \u201cvarious service bases to contribute to improving the well-being of the inhabitants are stepping up the preparations for inauguration,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Kim, with his teenage daughter Ju Ae,\u00a0visited a pet shop in the district, where he said: \u201cHouseholds rearing pets are increasing in the capital city and local areas nowadays.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw to it that a new shop was built to sell pets and various accessories and offer the specialized service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Images released by state media showed a visibly delighted Ju Ae watching cats with her father and petting one perched on a tower while Kim sat just behind her.<\/p>\n

In another photo, Kim cradled a white puppy as officials looked on with broad smiles, while Ju Ae sat beside him watching.<\/p>\n

\"\"This undated picture released by North Korea\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 3, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and his daughter Kim Ju Ae (R) inspecting a pet shop awaiting the opening of the fourth-stage district of the Hwasong Area in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cReferring to the production of various kinds of pet-care tools, feed and veterinary medicines, he (Kim) stressed the need to take measures to increase production in the future,\u201d KCNA said.<\/p>\n

Kim and his daughter also visited a musical instrument store, with state media images showing the duo looking at guitars and saxophones.<\/p>\n

Properly managing and operating the leisure facilities would \u201cserve as a valuable foundation for the development of socialist civilisation\u201d, Kim said, according to KCNA.<\/p>\n

The North Korean leader and his daughter also visited a hair salon, and said welfare amenities were \u201cessential\u201d for \u201censuring a cultured and hygienic environment and highly civilized living space in the formation of urban districts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"This undated picture released by North Korea\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 3, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd L) and his daughter Kim Ju Ae (2nd L) inspecting a musical instrument store awaiting the opening of the fourth-stage district of the Hwasong Area in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS \/ AFP)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

He called for \u201csteadily improving the quality of service on the principle of fully meeting the aesthetic tastes\u201d, and \u201ccreating a new Korean-style service culture\u201d.<\/p>\n

In February, South Korea\u2019s national intelligence service said that Pyongyang appears to have started the process of designating Ju Ae as Kim\u2019s successor.<\/p>\n

This perception has been stoked by a string of recent high-profile outings, including watching a test of nuclear-capable rocket launchers, firing a pistol, and trying out the country\u2019s new battle tank in large-scale military drills.<\/p>\n

Kim ordered the shops to open for the Day of the Sun, the April 15 birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il Sung, KCNA said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un petted puppies and kittens with his delighted daughter as they toured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[186,141,34,129],"class_list":["post-4927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pyongyang","tag-ju-ae","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-north-korea","tag-pyongyang"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}