Kim close to naming daughter as future North Korean leader, South believes | North Korea
South Korea’s spy agency has told lawmakers it believes the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is close to being identified as the country’s future leader as the Kim moves to expand the family dynasty into a fourth generation.
The National Intelligence Agency’s assessment comes as North Korea prepares to hold its largest political conference later this month; Here, Kim is expected to outline his main policy goals for the next five years and take steps to tighten his authoritarian stance.
Lee Seong Kweun, a lawmaker who attended the meeting, said in a closed-door briefing that they were closely monitoring whether Kim’s daughter, who is believed to have named Kim Ju-ae, who is about 13, would appear before thousands of delegates at the upcoming Workers’ Party congress.
Ju-ae made her first public appearance at a long-range missile test in November 2022, and has since accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings. Last September, on the sidelines of a second world war commemoration event, he traveled to Beijing for Kim’s first summit with Xi Jinping in six years.
Speculation about his political future intensified last month when he accompanied his parents on a New Year’s Day visit to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred family mausoleum where the mummified bodies of his late grandfather and great-grandfather, the country’s first- and second-generation leaders, are displayed. Some experts saw the visit as the clearest sign yet of his position as heir to his 42-year-old father.
South Korean officials initially expressed skepticism that she could be chosen as North Korea’s leader, citing the country’s deeply conservative culture and male-dominated leadership tradition. However, its increasing prominence in state media led to a re-evaluation.
In September, the NIS told lawmakers in its previous assessment of Ju-ae’s situation that Kim’s decision to bring him along on his trip to China was likely part of an effort to create a “narrative” that would pave the way for his successor.
Lee said: “In the past [the NIS] He described Kim Ju-ae as being in the midst of ‘successor training’. What stood out today was their use of the term ‘successor identification phase’; “This is a pretty significant change.”
According to Lee, the agency cited his increasing presence at high-profile military events, his inclusion in a family visit to Kumsusan, and signs that Kim had begun seeking his input on certain policy issues.
Not much is known about Kim’s daughter. Despite his increased visibility in propaganda, North Korean state media never published his name and referred to him as his “respected” or “most beloved” child.
The belief that her name is Kim Ju-ae is based on a statement by former NBA star Dennis Rodman in which he recalled Kim holding his infant daughter during a 2013 trip to Pyongyang. South Korean intelligence officials believe he was born sometime that year.
In 2023, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that Kim and his wife likely had an older son and a younger third child whose gender is unknown.
Since its founding in 1948, North Korea has been ruled by male members of the Kim family, starting from the country’s founder Kim Il-sung to his son Kim Jong-il.
Kim Jong-un was only 26 years old when he was officially named heir at the party conference in 2010, two years after Kim Jong-il’s stroke. Following his father’s death in December 2011, Kim Jong-un suddenly ascended to the throne with relatively little preparation.
Some analysts suggest that Kim’s decision to bring his daughter onto the stage early may reflect his own experience coming to power.
