Heir to the World's Most Secretive State
Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his daughter as his heir, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday.
Kim Ju Ae - who is believed to be 13 - has in recent months been pictured beside her father in high-profile events like a visit to Beijing in September, her first known trip abroad.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it took a "range of circumstances" into account including her increasingly prominent public presence at official events" in making this assessment.
The NIS also said it would keep close tabs on whether she will attend the North's party congress later this month - its largest political event that is held once every five years.
The party Congress is where Pyongyang is expected to give more details about priorities like foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.
On Thursday lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters that Ju Ae, who was previously described by the NIS as being "trained" to be a successor, was now at the stage of "successor designation".
"As Kim Ju Ae has shown her presence at various events, including the founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and signs have been detected of her voicing her opinion on certain state policies, the NIS believes she has now entered the stage of being designated as successor," Lee said.
Ju Ae is the only known child of Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. The NIS believes Kim Jong Un has an older son, but this son has never been acknowledged nor shown on North Korean media.
News of Ju Ae's existence first emerged through an unlikely source: the American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian newspaper back in 2013 that he "held baby Ju Ae" during a trip to the secretive state.
Ju Ae made her first appearance on state television in 2022. She was shown inspecting North Korea's latest intercontinental ballistic missile while holding her father's hand.
She has since made frequent appearances on state media, softening her father's image of a ruthless dictator. She accompanied him to Beijing for China's largest-ever military parade, where she was seen stepping off his armoured train at Beijing Railway Station.
She is often seen wearing her hair long, which is forbidden for her peers, and wearing designer clothes, which are out of reach for most in her country.
Another lawmaker, Park Sun-won said the role Ju Ae had taken on during public events indicated that she has started to provide policy input and is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader.
The North Korean power had passed down the three generations of the Kim family, and it is widely believed that Kim Jong Un will pass on the throne to Ju Ae.
In recent months, she was shown standing taller than her father, walking beside him, rather than following him.
In North Korea, where photos published by the state media are believed to carry a great symbolic weight, it is rare for individuals other than Kim Jong Un to be positioned equally prominently in the frame.
Although the South Korean spy agency now believes Ju Ae is the designated heir, it still raises questions.
It is puzzling why Ju Ae, a daughter, would be selected as the heir above an older son in North Korea's deeply patriarchal society.
Many defectors and analysts had previously dismissed the idea of a woman leading North Korea as an unlikely scenario, referring to the country's entrenched traditional gender roles. But Kim Jong Un's sister - Kim Yo Jong - does offer a precedent for female authority in the regime.
Kim Yo Jong currently holds a senior position in the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and is reported to have influence over her brother.
However, it is also a mystery why Kim Jong Un, who is still young and appears relatively healthy, is already designating a 13-year-old child as his heir now.
It is unclear what changes Ju Ae's succession may bring to North Korea.
Many North Koreans hoped that Kim Jong Un, a Western-educated young man, would open their country up to the outside when he succeeded his father.
Yet such hope was unfulfilled. Whatever plans this teenager may have for her country, she would likely have the singular power to shape it however she likes.
Trump Kim summit: Six odd moments from the day https://t.co/Ge0d3zqb5F
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) June 12, 2018
Comments
I don´t care if the heir of Mr. Kim Jong Un, (President, Prime Minister or what he was of North Korean, perhaps it´s better the name of leader as BBC says), was a woman or a man. It´s the same for me. As you said, in the title of this article, this is the world´s most secretive state. What will be happening in this country? It seems that there is a party Congress that is held once every five years where they, that is, Mr. Kim Jong Un speaks about foreing policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years. This situation is very interesting to describe the form of the government of North Korean. This country doesn´t have democracy.
Mr. Un chooses his daughter instead his son to succeed him. The reason would be that his dauther is more expert in intercontinental ballistic missiles that his son. She appears on social state media and state television. She goes overseas with her father and accompanies him in North Korean. Mr. Un gives an impression that he wants to his daughter will be his heir.
On the other hand, people from Nort Korean said that his son, a Western-educated young man, could change his country whit western ideas. Then, Nort Korean could be democratic country and this is not good for tyrannic Mr. Un. I suppose that his daughter is more intelligent than her brother and she says now that she agrees with her father and when she was the leader of Nort Korean, she will do what she wants.
See you.
This Kim Jong Un is a comical character but life for the average citizen of North Korea is no barrel of laughs. He was educated in Switzerland but he has not changed the direction of his country. It is bizarre that he takes his 13-year-old daughter along to military parades. It will be a brave boy who asks Kim Ju Ae out on a date.
I don´t care if the heir of Mr. Kim Jong Un, (President, Prime Minister or whatever they call him in North Korea, perhaps it´s better to address him as leader as the BBC says), is a woman or a man. It´s the same for me. As you said, in the title of the article, this is the world´s most secretive state. What will be happening in this country? It seems that there is a party Congress (which is) held once every five years where they, or rather Mr. Kim Jong Un speaks about foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years. This situation demonstrates the form of government in North Korea - there is no democracy at all.
Mr. Un has chosen his daughter rather than / instead of his son to succeed him. The reason could be / must be that his daughter is more of an expert in intercontinental ballistic missiles than his son. She appears on social state media and state television. She goes overseas with her father and accompanies him around North Korea. Mr. Un gives (us) the impression that he wants his daughter to be his heir.
On the other hand, people from North Korea said that his son, a Western-educated young man, could change his country with Western ideas. Then North Korean could become a democracy and this would not be good for tyrannic Mr. Un. I suppose that his daughter is more intelligent than her brother and she says now that she agrees with her father but when she becomes leader of North Korea, she will do what she wants.