North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chooses 13-yr-old daughter as heir

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his daughter as his heir, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday.

Kim Ju Ae, believed to be 13, has in recent months been pictured alongside her father at high-profile events, including a visit to Beijing in September—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 closely monitor whether she attends North Korea’s party congress later this month—its largest political gathering held once every five years. The congress is expected to outline priorities such as foreign policy, war planning, and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.

On Thursday, lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters that Ju Ae, 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 he has never been acknowledged or shown on North Korean media.

News of Ju Ae’s existence first emerged through an unlikely source: American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian in 2013 that he “held baby Ju Ae” during a visit to the secretive state.

She made her first appearance on state television in 2022, inspecting North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile while holding her father’s hand.

Since then, Ju Ae has made frequent appearances on state media, helping to soften her father’s image as a ruthless dictator. She accompanied him to Beijing for China’s largest-ever military parade, where she was seen stepping off his armored train at Beijing Railway Station.

She is often seen wearing her hair long—a style forbidden for her peers—and wearing designer clothes, which are out of reach for most North Koreans.

Vanguard News

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