0
0
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to be grooming his daughter as his successor, according to South Korean intelligence reports.
Lawmakers in Seoul said Kim has effectively named his daughter, Ju Ae, as the next in line, following a briefing from the country’s National Intelligence Service.
“She has now been clearly designated as a successor,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a closed parliamentary session. The assessment considered several factors, including her increasingly visible presence at official events, Lee added.
Analysts suggest this move could pave the way for Ju Ae to take on a more formal role within the ruling Workers’ Party, potentially even becoming First Secretary of the Central Committee—the second most powerful position in the party—at the upcoming congress.
Ju Ae’s exact age remains unclear, with Pyongyang never confirming it publicly. Reports suggest she is around 14, while South Korean officials estimate she is between 12 and 14.
Her rise to prominence has been gradual, marked by a series of high-profile appearances alongside her father. South Korea’s intelligence agency noted last year that Ju Ae seemed poised to inherit her father’s position after accompanying him on a high-profile visit to Beijing.
In January, state media broadcast images of her paying respects with Kim at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum of North Korea’s founding leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
North Korea is set to hold a major party congress at the end of February—the country’s biggest political event in years—where it is expected to outline its foreign policy, military planning, and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.
