CaliToday (): South Korea's national intelligence agency has assessed that Kim Ju Ae, the young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is the likely "anointed successor" to her father, a conclusion that solidifies months of speculation fueled by her increasingly prominent public role.
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| Kim Ju Ae and her father on a visit to the Kangdong Greenhouse Farm in Pyongyang in March last year. | Credit: Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service / AP |
The intelligence assessment comes just two weeks after Ju Ae, believed to be around 12 or 13 years old, made her first international public appearance. She accompanied her father on a high-stakes trip to Beijing, where he met with Chinese and Russian leaders, placing her at the center of North Korea's most critical diplomatic engagements.
Analysts cited by The Washington Post described her presence at the summit as the "clearest sign yet" that the North Korean leader is grooming her for succession. While experts caution that Ju Ae may be too young to "rush to conclusions," her "increasingly prominent appearances" strongly suggest a future path to power is being paved.
Who is Kim Ju Ae?
For years, Kim Ju Ae was a figure of mystery. Her name was first revealed to the world not by state media, but by American basketball star Dennis Rodman, who visited Pyongyang in 2013 and held the then-infant. North Korean state media has still never referred to her by name.
She remained entirely out of the public eye until November 2022, when Kim "introduced his daughter to the world," as The New York Times put it, by "holding her hand in front of an intercontinental ballistic missile."
Since that dramatic debut, she has been a constant presence at her father's side at major military parades, missile launches, and state events. Some analysts have suggested she has effectively "supplanted her mother," Ri Sol Ju, in the de facto first lady role. Her international debut in China is seen as the final piece of evidence confirming her status as a potential heir.
What About Other Candidates?
Since its founding in 1948, North Korea has been ruled exclusively by male members of the Kim dynasty. The elevation of Ju Ae suggests this pattern could be broken.
South Korea's intelligence agency has previously stated that Ju Ae has an older brother and a younger sibling. However, North Korean officials have never confirmed the existence of other children, and, as Sky News notes, "analysts have questioned the reliability of the reports." The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has posited that an older brother could be the "real successor" who is "being shielded from public scrutiny," but there remains no hard evidence he even exists.
Another potential successor is Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong. She has held influential positions within the government, is a visible figure on the world stage, and is known for issuing scathing public criticisms of South Korea.
However, as The Washington Post notes, any female candidate raises the question of whether North Korea, a "deeply patriarchal society," would accept a female supreme leader. While the country has a female foreign minister, "it’s hard to imagine a woman in charge."
The Succession Playbook
North Korea's constitution does not outline a specific succession process. The last two power transfers have followed the same father-to-child pattern, though not always through primogeniture (inheritance by the firstborn).
Kim Jong Un was the youngest of Kim Jong Il's three sons, yet he ascended to power after his father's death in 2011. The eldest son was famously passed over after an "embarrassing incident" involving a fake passport and a trip to Tokyo Disneyland, while there were concerns about the "health and personality" of the second son.
Before taking power, state media began building a cult of personality around Kim, referring to him as the "Brilliant Comrade" and commissioning songs in his honor. The similar honorific titles now being bestowed upon Ju Ae—such as "beloved child" and the more recent "great person of guidance"—are another strong clue that she is walking the same carefully orchestrated path to leadership.
