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Her anticipated appearance at the nation’s paramount political gathering, where Kim is set to unveil his five-year blueprint covering foreign policy and nuclear ambitions, would signal her deep involvement in North Korea’s inner circle of power.
Lee informed journalists that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has long viewed Ju Ae as a potential heir, but recent developments have made this prospect more pronounced.
“Previously, the NIS described Kim Ju Ae as undergoing ‘successor training.’ Today, notably, they referred to her as being in the ‘successor-designate stage,’ which marks a considerable shift,” Lee noted.
Analysts and international intelligence agencies have historically expressed doubts about this possibility, given North Korea’s strongly patriarchal traditions.
Kim follows in the footsteps of his male forebears, with leadership having been passed down from his father Kim Jong Il and his grandfather Kim Il Sung.
But, while the western-educated Kim has not proved the reformer there were dim hopes for when he took power, his reign has shown a willingness to open the door to women in the family.
His sister, Kim Yo Jong, holds a prominent role in the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and has made public comments about policy.
Ju Ae first appeared publicly in 2022, when she accompanied her father at a long-range missile test.
Since then, she has been pictured with him at a number of events, including a state visit to China, and a visit with her father to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum where the embalmed bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are kept.
Curiously, North Korean state media have never reported the name of Kim’s daughter, referring to her only as a “respected” and “most beloved” child.
The only source for her name is US former basketball player Dennis Rodman, who visited North Korea as a celebrity guest when Kim Jong Il was in power, and who spoke to The Guardian in 2013 about holding the dictator’s baby granddaughter “Ju Ae” in his arms.
Kim is also believed to have an older son and possibly a third child with his wife Ri Sol Ju, according to South Korean intelligence.
The Workers’ Party congress in late February, last held in 2016 and 2021, could provide a stage for Kim to formalise his succession plans, possibly by giving his daughter the party’s first secretary post, its second-highest position, although such a decision might not be immediately disclosed to the outside world, Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute, said.
Other analysts question whether she would receive such a high-profile post or any formal party role, given that party rules require members to be at least 18.
If Kim does use the party congress to cement his daughter as successor, the signs would be more subtle, said Koh Yu-hwan, former president of South Korea’s Institute of National Unification.
For example, the party may issue self-praise about how North Korea has survived longer than most other Communist states and credit that to how the country established a “successful inheritance of the revolution,” he said.
“If you see comments like that, it would be reasonable to think that Ju Ae has been cemented,” as heir, Koh said.
With Associated Press.
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