Photo Credit: Getty Images
South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has chosen his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his heir. Little is publicly known about Kim Ju Ae, though she has increasingly appeared at high‑profile events alongside her father in recent months, including a September visit to Beijing that was her first known trip abroad.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it took a "range of circumstances" into account including her increasingly prominent public presence at official events" in making this assessment. The NIS also said it would keep close tabs on whether she will attend the North's party congress later this month - its largest political event that is held once every five years.
The party Congress is where Pyongyang is expected to give more details about priorities like foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.
On Thursday lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters that Ju Ae, who was previously described by the NIS as being "trained" to be a successor, was now at the stage of "successor designation".
"As Kim Ju Ae has shown her presence at various events, including the founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and signs have been detected of her voicing her opinion on certain state policies, the NIS believes she has now entered the stage of being designated as successor," Lee said.
Ju Ae is the only known child of Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. The NIS believes Kim Jong Un has an older son, but this son has never been acknowledged nor shown on North Korean media.
News of Ju Ae's existence first emerged through an unlikely source: the American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian newspaper back in 2013 that he "held baby Ju Ae" during a trip to the secretive state.
Ju Ae - who is believed to be 13 - made her first appearance on state television in 2022. She was shown inspecting North Korea's latest intercontinental ballistic missile while holding her father's hand.
She has since made frequent appearances on state media, softening her father's image of a ruthless dictator. She accompanied him to Beijing for China's largest-ever military parade, where she was seen stepping off his armoured train at Beijing Railway Station.
She is often seen wearing her hair long, which is forbidden for her peers, and wearing designer clothes, which are out of reach for most in her country.
The North Korean power had passed down the three generations of the Kim family, and it is widely believed that Kim Jong Un will pass on the throne to Ju Ae.
