Photos released by state media in North Korea recently showed dictator Kim Jong Un standing at a shooting range with senior officials, personally test-firing a newly produced pistol from one of the country’s light-munitions factories. The images, first reported by international outlets including the Associated Press and CBS News, quickly circulated around the world.
But what caught the attention of many observers was not just the handgun itself. Standing next to Kim and firing the same pistol was his teenage daughter, widely believed to be Kim Ju Ae. Her appearance at the range continues a pattern of increasingly public appearances at military demonstrations, missile launches, and weapons inspections that analysts believe could signal she is being introduced as a future successor to the regime.
According to North Korean state media reports, Kim visited a factory responsible for producing pistols and other light arms for the country’s military and security forces. During the visit he reportedly inspected production lines and then moved to an indoor range where he fired the newly produced handgun at targets.
The official report praised the pistol as a successful design and described Kim as expressing satisfaction with its performance. State media also quoted him calling for expanded production capacity and modernization of small arms manufacturing facilities to better equip the country’s armed forces.
The images show Kim and his daughter wearing similar jackets as they fire the pistols side by side, with military officials observing. The daughter is clearly seen shooting the handgun in several photos. Both the father, the daughter, and the generals are seen closing one eye while firing the pistols. Notably, they did not provide eye protection for their glorious leader.
North Korea has a long history of copying or adapting foreign handgun designs.
One of the most common service pistols historically used by the regime is the Type 68, a locally produced clone of the Soviet Tokarev TT 33. Chambered in the powerful 7.62×25 cartridge, the Tokarev pattern pistol has been used by numerous communist states since World War II.
Another domestic design is the Type 70 pistol, introduced around 1970. This handgun appears to borrow heavily from European designs such as the Walther PP and the FN Model 1910. It is typically chambered in .32 ACP and issued to officers and security personnel.
More recently, North Korea has produced a pistol often referred to as the Baek Du San. This handgun strongly resembles the Czech CZ 75 design, a popular double action service pistol that has been widely copied around the world.
Because the regime rarely releases technical specifications, most of what the outside world knows about these firearms comes from captured examples or close analysis of propaganda photos.
The handgun Kim fired during the factory visit has not yet been officially identified. State media simply described it as a “new pistol” that recently entered production.
The available photos show a modern-looking semi-automatic handgun, but the images are not clear enough to confirm its design lineage. It could be an updated version of an existing domestic pistol or an entirely new pattern. There is no apparent slide cut for a red dot optic. Modernization might still be a few decades behind in this instance.
Analysts who study North Korean weapons will likely continue scrutinizing the images for clues about the slide shape, controls, and overall profile in hopes of identifying its origins. For now, the regime appears content to let the pistol remain something of a mystery while focusing attention on the broader message of modernization.
While the photos of Kim and his daughter shooting pistols may resemble a typical range day in the United States, the reality inside North Korea could not be more different.
Private firearm ownership is essentially nonexistent in the country. The regime maintains strict control over all weapons, and ordinary citizens have no legal ability to own firearms for self defense, hunting, or sport shooting.
Guns in North Korea exist almost exclusively in the hands of the state. Military personnel, police, and internal security forces carry them as tools of government authority rather than as instruments of personal liberty.
That stands in sharp contrast to the American tradition of civilian gun ownership protected by the Second Amendment. In the United States, firearms ownership is rooted in the idea that individuals possess the right to defend themselves and ultimately preserve their freedom.
In North Korea, firearms symbolize the exact opposite. They represent the power of the regime over its population.
Ultimately, the range photos serve several purposes for the North Korean government. They showcase a supposed improvement in domestic weapons production. They reinforce the image of Kim as a hands-on military leader. And they continue introducing his daughter to the world as someone closely tied to the country’s military establishment.
But for observers in the free world, the images also highlight a stark truth. In North Korea, guns are tools of the state.
In America, they remain tools of the people.
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