Kim Yo-Jong

Incheon airport - one of the world's largest and busiest international transport hubs that serves the South Korean capital Seoul - was forced to halt all flights for roughly three hours as investigators descended on the tarmac to inspect the balloons. North Korea has in the past three days sent hundreds of balloons carrying bags of trash, and in some cases human faeces, soaring into South Korea in a retaliatory move for Seoul's ongoing efforts to distribute propaganda leaflets across the border. Both territories have engaged in a spiralling tit-for-tat propaganda war in recent weeks as their relations dip to new lows. Less than an hour after Incheon airport was reopened, Seoul was placed on alert after a new North Korean missile launch was detected.

After being greeted warmly with a handshake and a hug by the pariah state's dynastic dictator Kim Jong Un, a huge motorcade ferried the Russian President to Pyongyang's main square where thousands upon thousands of adoring citizens were eagerly awaiting his arrival. The crowds erupted into cheers and let loose a torrent of bright coloured balloons at the sight of the Kremlin chief, who stood beside his host and took in the rapturous applause before they made their way through Kim Il Sung Square along a huge red carpet. The pair were saluted by a string of military guards atop snow-white horses before making their way past a gaggle of children clutching balloons and waving frantically at the smirking autocrats. Other revellers were seen touting huge portraits of the Russian President standing beside the Russian flag - the colours of which adorned the facades of buildings around the square. The ceremony also gave Kim a chance to introduce Putin to a host of key figures in his Politburo, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui; top aide and ruling party secretary Jo Yong Won; and his powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, who besides her role as chief propagandist has in recent months become a fiery-tongued mouthpiece of the regime. After touring the square, Kim and Putin then travelled together to Pyongyang's Kumsusan State Guest House, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said, for their first talks together on North Korean soil.

On Saturday, North Korea's state media referred to the girl, who is expected to be between ten and twelve years old, as a "great person of guidance" a term that is usually reserved only for top leaders and their successors. Analysts said this was the first time Kim's daughter - never named by Pyongyang but identified as Ju Ae by South Korean intelligence - had been identified as such by the North. Ju Ae, who often appears next to her father at major public events (pictured), has reignited rumors that she might have been chosen as the next head of the nuclear-armed North for a third hereditary lineage. Ju Ae was seen wearing binoculars to watch recent paratroop drills, standing beside her father and senior military figures in a picture published by Pyongyang on Saturday. It was then believed that Kim Yo Jong (inset), the Supreme Leader's eldest sister, was being lined up to replace him as the fourth generation of leaders under the Kim Dynasty. However, the hawkish propaganda chief has made fewer public appearances since then, lowering her notoriety.