(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim attends New Year's celebrations with daughter

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter, Ju-ae, kisses Kim on the cheeks, as they attend an event to celebrate the new year at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on Dec. 31, 2025, in this image captured from the state-run Korean Central Television the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ Fireworks are set off over May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on Dec. 31, 2025, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends an event to celebrate the new year, in this photo provided by the North's Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ This file photo from the Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un welcoming soldiers returning from Russia. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R), alongside his daughter Ju-ae (C) and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, attends an event to celebrate the new year at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on Dec. 31, 2025, in this photo provided by the North's Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) NK leader-Russia

(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim attends New Year's celebrations with daughter

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS more info in paras 2-6, photos)

SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has marked the new year by attending a large-scale celebratory performance in Pyongyang with his wife and daughter, without issuing any message to South Korea or the United States, according to state media Thursday.

Video footage aired by the state-run Korean Central Television showed Kim's daughter, Ju-ae, seated next to him during the event held at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang.

Ju-ae, clad in a leather coat matching her father's, was seen holding his hand and whispering to him as they watched the performance, and kissing him on his cheek after the New Year countdown ended.

Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, was seated next to Ju-ae but was mostly shown at the edge of the frame in the footage.

Kim delivered a speech at the event focusing on domestic issues, without issuing any message to Seoul or Washington, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

He urged North Koreans to unite and advance toward a "new vision" to be presented at the ninth party congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, expected to be held early this year.

Kim also delivered a message in a New Year's letter addressed to North Korean soldiers stationed overseas.

In the message, he told the troops dispatched to support Russia in its war against Ukraine that their combat participation helps cement the "invincible alliance" between Pyongyang and Moscow.

North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops and conventional weapons to support Russia's war efforts, with thousands believed to have been killed in action.

Extending New Year's greetings, Kim said 2025 was shining brightly thanks to the "imperishable" honor the troops safeguarded with their blood and lives.

"All of you have safeguarded heroically the dignity and honour of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," Kim said, lauding them as "the greatest strength, pride and a strong pillar" of the country.

Kim said he hopes to reunite with the soldiers as early as possible, adding that he has no greater hope than seeing all of them return home safely and urging them to pay special attention to their safety.

"Thanks to your self-sacrificing and devoted struggle, the militant fraternity and friendship and invincible alliance between our country and Russia grow firmer," he also noted.

The leader told the forces, "Behind you are Pyongyang and Moscow," urging them to "be brave" for the sake of the Russian people and the undying fame of North Korea.

The KCNA separately reported on Kim's meeting with families of overseas soldiers on the sidelines of a New Year's celebration held in Pyongyang the previous day.

Kim said he "thinks much more of the commanding officers and combatants of the overseas operations units" at the turn of the year, proposing to wish for the beloved people to return home safe after discharging their mission, the KCNA said.

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