SEOUL: North Korea released a rare image on Saturday of leader Kim Jong Un`s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor.

Kim`s daughter Ju Ae has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and tool< part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including this weelc`s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea`s key party congress.

Pyongyang`s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju Ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rine scope with her finger on the trigger, smoke rising from the barrel.

She was wearing what appeared to be a leather jacket, a garment often worn byboth her and her father at major political events, symbolising authority and legitimacy. KCNA reported on Saturday that Kim presented new sniper rifies to senior party and military officials, describing the move as a gesture of appreciation and `absolute trust,` without mentioning Ju Ae.

He then visited a shooting range with the officials, where he fired the rifle and took a group photo, it added. South Korea`s spy agency said this month that Pyongyang appears to have started the process of designating Ju Ae as leader Kim`s successor.

By underscoring Ju Ae`s ability to handle and fire a weapon, the photos `suggest she isindeed receiving training as a successor`, Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said.-AFP