North Korea: Kim Jong-un’s daughter makes international debut fuelling succession speculation

The idea that Kim Jong-un’s daughter is being prepared to become the first female leader of North Korea has been strengthened by her visit in China prior to Xi Jinping’s “victory day” celebration in Beijing.

At the beginning of her international debut, Kim Ju-ae, who is said to be in her early teens, was received by Chinese officials in the Chinese capital after boarding her father’s heavily armored train, according to photos provided by North Korean state media.

Ju-ae, whose name and age the regime has never made public, is no stranger to the spotlight, however, as she has accompanied Kim on a number of official assignments throughout North Korea, including ballistic missile test launches and, more recently, the opening of the resort on the east coast of the country called Wonsan Kalma.

Ju-ae would become the fourth member of the Kim family to lead North Korea since her great-grandfather, Kim Il-sung, established the country in 1948 if, as many observers assume, she is her father’s chosen heir.

Ju-ae has not publicly spoken, but she has become a near-permanent presence in her father’s entourage, along with his powerful sister and confidante, Kim Yo-jong, since being first identified by former NBA player Dennis Rodman, a friend of Kim who claimed to have held his then-baby daughter during a 2013 trip to Pyongyang.

North Korea’s tightly controlled state media had not carried reports about any of Kim’s children until Ju-ae was first seen accompanying him at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022. Several months later, Ju-ae attended a parade marking a founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, and state media began referring to her as Kim’s “respected” daughter.

According to a 2017 report by South Korea’s intelligence service, Kim and his wife,Ri Sol-ju, have three children: a son born in 2010, a daughter born in 2013 who is thought to be Ju-ae and, in 2017, a child whose gender has not been confirmed.

At the beginning of their first international vacation together, Ju-ae, wearing a navy blue suit, was spotted grinning behind her father as he got off their train in Beijing following an overnight voyage from Pyongyang.

Analysts said her attendance at an event that appeared to confirm the formation of a new, yet vaguely defined,anti-western alliancehas added weight to the theory that she is Kim Jong-un’s heir apparent.

According to Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership specialist at the US-based Stimson Center, Ju-ae is currently the front-runner to become North Korea’s next supreme leader. “She is gaining real-world protocol experience, which should help her as a core elite or as North Korea’s future leader.”

“Her experience greeting and interacting with foreign leadership and other elites is invaluable.”

There is no evidence that Kim Jong-un ever accompanied his father, Kim Jong-il, on overseas trips, although the North’s former leader was reportedly reluctant to fly – a phobia his sondoes not appear to have inherited.

Although it’s unclear how and when that could happen, South Korea’s spy service stated in 2024 that it thought Ju-ae was getting ready to assume authority. Kim Jong-un and other future presidents often rise through the ranks of the regime’s leadership, holding several high-level positions before assuming the role of head of state. Furthermore, it is unknown how the military and ruling party would respond if a woman were promoted to the role of supreme commander.

Kim, who is said to be 41 or 42, has been in apparent good health since rumors circulated about why he was absent from public life for weeks at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, despite his history of weight issues and an apparent bout of gout in 2014.

However, Ju-ae’s role has undoubtedly become more significant in recent months, as seen by her attendance at a war anniversary celebration held in May at the Russian embassy in Pyongyang.

According to Rachel Minyoung Lee, a researcher at the Stimson Center, “the scope of her public appearances certainly has expanded over the years from military-related sites to political and economic events.”

“If this is part of a succession campaign, this would certainly help with that effort as it would be seen as Kim Ju-ae’s debut on the international stage.”

Reporting was provided by Reuters.