Kim Jong Un’s young daughter is the despotic North Korean leader’s most likely successor, South Korea’s spy agency has said – just over a year after she made her first public appearance.
Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family, and the current leader –aged 40 – is the subject of a strong and loyal following which treats him like a god.
But, in scenes almost unimaginable in North Korea, Mr Kim and his daughter Ju Ae were seen kissing each other on the cheek at a New Year’s Eve celebration in a packed Pyongyang stadium on Sunday.
Kim Ju Ae has appeared in multiple state media broadcasts – despite her father and grandfather not doing so until they were adults— (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)
And in November, Jue Ae – believed to be 10 years old – was pictured standing in front of her father during a visit to the air force headquarters in November, with both Kims wearing sunglasses and long leather jackets.
Two months prior, a senior general knelt and whispered to her when she clapped while watching a military parade at a VIP observation stand in September.
At a number of events in February commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean military, the child was seen in several pictures dining at a banquet with top military officials and sitting with her father as he smoked in a drawing room, before walking alongside him at the parade.
Displays such as these have fuelled intense speculation about Ju Ae’s future since her first public appearance in November 2022, when she watched a long-range missile test launch with her father.
North Korea’s tightly controlled state media has also taken to refering to her as Mr Kim’s “most beloved” or “respected” child – the latter being a term used only for the country’s most venerated individuals. Mr Kim himself was only described as “respected comrade” once his status as a future leader was confirmed.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae inspect a missile launcher production facility in a photo released in January 2024— (EPA/KCNA)
At the 75th anniversary parade, the official newspaper of the North Korean ruling party, the Rodong Sinmun, described Ju Ae as the centre of attention alongside her father.
And following the successful launch of North Korea’s first spy satellite on 21 November, she was referred to as “General Morning Star” in state media. The title was initially bestowed upon her great-grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the founder of the North Korean regime, and was also used for her father after reaching adulthood.
Aside from such praise, she is the first of Mr Kim’s children to be photographed in public with her father, as state media had previously avoided even revealing the identity members of the leader’s immediate family. Neither Mr Kim nor his father Kim Jong Il were mentioned in state media until they were adults.
The girl no longer wears the ponytail she was initially seen with and instead sports a half-tie hairstyle like her mother Ri Sol-ju and a leather jacket, an item of clothing Mr Kim also regularly favours.
Mr Kim is believed to have three children, including a son aged 13 and another child aged six, about whom very little is known, including their gender. The only other named contender to succeed Mr Kim is his firebrand sister Kim Yo-jong, rumoured to be his de facto second-in-command.
Prior to her first public appearance in November 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who spent time with Mr Kim’s family during his controversial visit to North Korea in 2013, during which he called the dictator “a friend for life”.
Kim Jong Un and his daughter were also pictured together at New Year— (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)
South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, has said it sees Ju Ae as her father’s likely successor, citing a comprehensive analysis of her public activities and the state protocols provided to her.
The spy agency told The Associated Press that it still considers all possibilities regarding the North’s power succession process because Mr Kim is still young, has no major health issues, and has at least one other child.
Du Hyeogn Cha, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that while the NIS currently sees a high possibility of Kim Ju Ae getting primed to become her father’s successor, few can predict whether she would eventually become the North’s next leader.
Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, said that Kim Jong Un likely believes his daughter has the capacity and resolve to succeed him as leader.
“By accompanying her father on major events, it’s like she’s learning kingship and building a human network at a tender age,” Dr Cheong said.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
