North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his teenage daughter as his heir, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers Thursday, marking a significant succession development in the world’s most secretive nuclear state.
Kim Ju Ae, believed to be 13, has appeared beside her father at high-profile events in recent months including a visit to Beijing in September, her first known trip abroad. The NIS said it considered a “range of circumstances” including her “increasingly prominent public presence at official events” in making this assessment. The agency said it would monitor whether she attends North Korea’s party congress later this month, the regime’s largest political event held once every five years.
Lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters that Ju Ae, previously described by the NIS as being “trained” to be a successor, has now reached 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 has an older son who has never been acknowledged on North Korean media. News of Ju Ae’s existence first emerged through basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed in 2013 that he “held baby Ju Ae” during a trip to North Korea. She made her first appearance on state television in 2022, inspecting an intercontinental ballistic missile while holding her father’s hand.
Ju Ae’s selection as heir raises questions in North Korea’s deeply patriarchal society, where many analysts dismissed the idea of a woman leading the country. However, Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong holds a senior position in the Workers’ Party Central Committee and reportedly has influence over her brother. It’s also unclear why Kim Jong Un, who is still young and appears relatively healthy, is designating a 13-year-old as his heir now.
Many North Koreans hoped Kim Jong Un, a Western-educated young man, would open the country when he succeeded his father, but such hopes went unfulfilled. Whatever plans Ju Ae may have for North Korea, she would likely have singular power to shape the country however she likes once she assumes control.
