{"id":587668,"date":"2026-02-13T18:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/587668\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:44:12","slug":"south-korea-says-kim-jong-uns-daughter-could-soon-be-designated-north-koreas-future-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/587668\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea says Kim Jong Un\u2019s daughter could soon be designated North Korea\u2019s future leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 South Korea\u2019s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday that it believes the teenage daughter<\/a> of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is close to being designated as the country\u2019s future leader as he moves to extend the family dynasty to a fourth generation.<\/p>\n

The assessment by the National Intelligence Service comes as North Korea is preparing to hold its biggest political conference<\/a> later this month, where Kim is expected to outline his major policy goals for the next five years and take steps to tighten his authoritarian grip.<\/p>\n

In a closed-door briefing, NIS officials said they are closely monitoring whether Kim\u2019s daughter \u2014 believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and around 13 years old \u2014 appears with him before thousands of delegates at the upcoming Workers\u2019 Party Congress, said lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the meeting.<\/p>\n

First appearing in public at a long-range missile test<\/a> in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has since accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings. She traveled with him to Beijing last September for Kim\u2019s first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping<\/a> in six years on the sidelines of a World War II event.<\/p>\n

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Speculation about her political future intensified last month when she joined her parents on a New Year\u2019s Day visit to Pyongyang\u2019s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred family mausoleum displaying the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather, the country\u2019s first- and second-generation leaders. Some experts saw the visit as the clearest sign yet that she\u2019s positioned to be the heir to her 42-year-old father. <\/p>\n

South Korean officials initially expressed doubt<\/a> that she could be chosen as a North Korean leader, citing the country\u2019s deeply conservative culture and tradition of male-dominated leadership. But her increasingly prominent appearances in state media have prompted a reassessment. <\/p>\n

In its previous assessment<\/a> of Kim Ju Ae\u2019s status in September, the NIS told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un\u2019s decision to bring her along on his trip to China was likely part of an effort to build a \u201cnarrative\u201d possibly paving the way for her succession.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, (NIS) described Kim Ju Ae as being in the midst of \u2018successor training.\u2019 What was notable today is that they used the term \u2018successor-designate stage,\u2019 a shift that\u2019s quite significant,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

According to Lee, the agency cited her growing presence at high-profile military events, her inclusion in the family visit to Kumsusan, and signs that Kim Jong Un was beginning to seek her input on certain policy matters.<\/p>\n

Not much is known about Kim\u2019s daughter <\/p>\n

Despite her increased visibility in propaganda, North Korean state media have never published the name of Kim Jong Un\u2019s daughter, only referring to her as his \u201crespected\u201d or \u201cmost beloved\u201d child.<\/p>\n

The belief that she is named Kim Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, in which he recalled holding Kim Jong Un\u2019s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang<\/a> in 2013. South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born sometime that year. <\/p>\n

In 2023, South Korea\u2019s spy agency told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un and his wife also likely have an older son and a younger third child<\/a> whose gender is unknown.<\/p>\n

Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been ruled by male members of the Kim family, beginning with the country\u2019s founder Kim Il Sung and followed by his son, Kim Jong Il.<\/a><\/p>\n

Kim Jong Un was just 26 when he was officially named heir during a 2010 party conference, two years after Kim Jong Il suffered a debilitating stroke. Following his father\u2019s death in December 2011, he was abruptly thrust into the throne with relatively little preparation.<\/p>\n

Some analysts suggest that Kim Jong Un\u2019s decision to debut his daughter early possibly reflects his own experience of being rushed into power.<\/p>\n

Party congress may offer hints toward succession plans<\/p>\n

Kim Ju Ae\u2019s first known visit to Kumsusan last month was also her father\u2019s first visit to the site in three years. Given the palace\u2019s status as a key symbol of the Kim family rule, the trip should be seen as a symbolic gesture by Kim Jong Un to present his daughter as his heir before his grandfather and father as he prepares for the major ruling party congress, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea\u2019s Sejong Institute.<\/p>\n

The Workers\u2019 Party congress in late February, last held in 2016 and 2021, could provide a stage for Kim Jong Un to formalize his succession plans, possibly by giving his daughter the party\u2019s first secretary post, its No. 2 job, although such a decision might not be immediately disclosed to the outside world, Cheong said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

If Kim Jong Un 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\u2019s Institute of National Unification.<\/p>\n

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 \u201csuccessful inheritance of the revolution,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see comments like that, it would be reasonable to think that Ju Ae has been cemented,\u201d as heir, Koh said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 South Korea\u2019s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday that it believes the teenage…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":587669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[13214,75480,57,86,254368,254367,24529,254366,107930,50,24240,3659,80,235115,15243,30357,103,107,11762],"class_list":["post-587668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-asia-pacific","tag-dennis-rodman","tag-general-news","tag-government-policy","tag-kim-il-sung","tag-kim-jong-il","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-kim-ju-ae","tag-lee-seong-kweun","tag-news","tag-north-korea","tag-north-korea-government","tag-politics","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-south-korea","tag-south-korea-government","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-xi-jinping"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116064812565026455","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}