South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has informed lawmakers that Kim Jong Un will choose his teenage daughter for designation as the future leader of North Korea.
In a closed-door briefing to South Korean legislators on Thursday, NIS officials revealed that the young girl named Kim Ju Ae and approximately 13 years old, will be in the “successor-designate stage.” This represents an escalation from prior evaluations, where she was characterised as undergoing successor training.
Kim Jong Un is expected to announce key policy directions for the next five years and reinforce his control over the regime.
Who is Kim Ju Ae?
Kim Ju Ae first entered the public eye in November 2022 during a long-range missile test. Since then, she has joined her father at numerous high-profile occasions, such as military parades, weapons demonstrations, factory inspections, and ceremonial events. Notably, she accompanied him on a trip to Beijing in September for discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a World War II commemoration.
Speculation grew further following her participation with her parents in a New Year’s Day visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, a revered site housing the preserved bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the nation’s founding leader and his son. Observers viewed this as a strong indicator of her elevated status within the ruling family.
Kim Jong Un family
North Korean state media have consistently avoided naming Kim Jong Un’s daughter, referring to her only with honorifics such as “respected” or “most beloved” child. The name Kim Ju Ae stems primarily from recollections by former NBA player Dennis Rodman, who claimed to have met and held the infant during a 2013 visit to Pyongyang. Intelligence sources estimate her birth around that year.
Reports also suggest Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, have at least two other children: an older son and a younger child of unknown gender.
Kim Jong Un himself assumed power in his mid-20s following his father Kim Jong Il’s death in 2011, after a relatively brief preparation period triggered by his father’s health crisis. Analysts speculate that his decision to introduce his daughter to public life at a young age may stem from a desire to provide her with more gradual grooming for leadership, in contrast to his own abrupt transition.
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