Seoul believes daughter of N.Korea’s Kim to be his heir
South Korea’s spy agency believes the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is being positioned as his successor, citing a recent public display of her driving a tank, possibly aimed at dispelling any suspicion.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers its assessment was based on what it described as “credible intelligence” gathered by the agency, not circumstantial inferences, according to briefings given by ruling and opposition party members after a closed-door parliamentary meeting.
The NIS image of its daughter driving a tank was intended to highlight her alleged military prowess and dispel doubts about the female heiress, lawmakers said on Monday.
North Korea’s state media KCNA published photos of Kim and his daughter driving a new tank in March, following earlier footage showing Kim and his daughter shooting a rifle and using a pistol at a shooting range.
Ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won said such scenes were intended to “pay homage” to Kim’s public military demonstrations in the early 2010s, when he was preparing to succeed his own father.
The latest assessment of Kim’s daughter, who is believed to be 13 and named Ju Ae, is a progression from the spy agency’s earlier analysis, which said she was likely being groomed to replace her father.
Citing the NIS, the lawmakers said Ju Ae’s repeated presence at defense-related events was aimed at alleviating doubts about the female successor and accelerating the construction of a succession narrative.
MPs have previously said the agency believed his increasingly prominent role showed he was already being treated as the de facto second-highest figure in the North’s leadership.
People Power Party lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said the NIS noted that suggestions that Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, might be unhappy about focusing on Ju Ae were misplaced, as Kim Yo-jong does not have independent power.
But some North Korea experts have urged caution in interpreting the images as definitive signals of succession.
Hong Min, an analyst with the Korea National Unification Institute, said Ju Ae’s tank appearance alone was not enough to conclude that he was approved as Kim’s heir, noting that he appeared alongside his father rather than independently, unlike Kim Jong-un going out alone in the military during the grooming phase.
