{"id":394771,"date":"2025-09-03T14:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/394771\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:42:10","slug":"north-korea-kim-jong-uns-daughter-makes-international-debut-fuelling-succession-speculation-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/394771\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea: Kim Jong-un\u2019s daughter makes international debut fuelling succession speculation | North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

The appearance of Kim Jong-un<\/a>\u2019s daughter in China ahead of Xi Jinping\u2019s \u201cvictory day\u201d parade in Beijing has added to speculation<\/a> that she is being groomed to become the first female ruler of North Korea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photos released by North Korean state media showed Kim Ju-ae, who is believed to be in her early teens, stepping off her father\u2019s heavily armoured train in the Chinese capital, where she was greeted by Chinese officials at the start of her debut on the international stage.<\/p>\n

But Ju-ae, whose name and age the regime has never publicly confirmed, is no stranger to the spotlight, having accompanied Kim on numerous official duties around North Korea, including the test launches of ballistic missiles and, more recently, the opening of Wonsan Kalma<\/a>, a resort on the country\u2019s east coast.<\/p>\n

If, as many analysts believe, Ju-ae is her father\u2019s preferred successor, she would become the fourth member of the Kim family to rule North Korea since it was founded by her great-grandfather, Kim Il-sung, in 1948.<\/p>\n

First identified by the former NBA star Dennis Rodman \u2013 a friend of Kim who claimed to have held his then baby daughter<\/a> during a visit to Pyongyang in 2013 \u2013 Ju-ae has not spoken in public, but has become a near-permanent fixture in her father\u2019s entourage, alongside his influential sister and confidante, Kim Yo-jong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

North Korea\u2019s tightly controlled state media had not carried reports about any of Kim\u2019s 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\u2019s Army, and state media began referring to her as Kim\u2019s \u201crespected\u201d daughter.<\/p>\n

According to a 2017 report by South Korea\u2019s intelligence service, Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

In Beijing, a smiling Ju-ae, dressed in a navy blue suit, was seen standing behind her father as he stepped off their train after an overnight journey from Pyongyang, at the start of their first overseas trip together.<\/p>\n

Kim Jong-un inspecting the newly built Gwangcheon Poultry Factory with his daughter Photograph: KCNA VIA KNS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Analysts said her attendance at an event that appeared to confirm the formation of a new, yet vaguely defined, anti-western alliance<\/a> has added weight to the theory that she is Kim Jong-un\u2019s heir apparent.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, Ju-ae is the frontrunner as next supreme leader of North Korea,\u201d said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the US-based Stimson Center. \u201cShe is getting practical protocol experience which should serve her well as North Korea\u2019s next leader or a core elite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is getting valuable experience greeting and interacting with foreign leadership and other elites.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no evidence that Kim Jong-un ever accompanied his father, Kim Jong-il, on overseas trips, although the North\u2019s former leader was reportedly reluctant to fly \u2013 a phobia his son does not appear to have inherited<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2024, South Korea\u2019s intelligence agency said it believed Ju-ae was being prepared to take on the leadership<\/a>, although how and when that could happen remains unclear. Future leaders, including Kim Jong-un, usually work their way through the regime\u2019s power structure<\/a>, taking a number of senior posts in preparation for becoming head of state. It is unclear, too, how ruling party and military elites would react to the elevation of a woman<\/a> to the position of supreme leader.<\/p>\n

Despite longstanding struggles with his weight and, in 2014, an apparent attack of gout<\/a> \u2013 Kim, who is thought to be 41 or 42, has been in seemingly good health since speculation swirled over the reason behind his weeks-long absence<\/a> from public life at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

But there is little doubt that Ju-ae\u2019s role has taken on greater significance in recent months, including attending a war anniversary event at the Russian embassy in Pyongyang in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scope of her public appearances certainly has expanded from military-related sites to political and economic events over the years,\u201d said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a researcher at the Stimson Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is part of a succession campaign, this would certainly help with that effort as it would be seen as Kim Ju-ae\u2019s debut on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuters contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The appearance of Kim Jong-un\u2019s daughter in China ahead of Xi Jinping\u2019s \u201cvictory day\u201d parade in Beijing has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-394771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115140896034340729","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}