North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seems to have further cemented the status of his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his probable successor after she joined him during a visit to China, South Korean lawmakers stated on Thursday, quoting information provided by the nation’s intelligence agency.
Ju Ae stayed at the North Korean embassy and avoided the public spotlight during the Beijing visit, but just being on the overseas trip with her father was “enough to build a narrative” as the regime’s likely successor, said Lee Seong-kweun, a lawmaker on South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee.
“It was suggested that Kim Ju Ae’s status was solidified as a likely successor by showing her occasionally, while enabling her to build overseas experience but not to appear at public events,” said Park Sun-won, another lawmaker on the committee.
Also, North Korean officials were spotted wiping out traces in order not to expose the biological information of Kim and his daughter during the China trip. This included using a special plane to transport garbage and the pair staying at the North Korean embassy, South Korea’s spy agency told the lawmakers.
Earlier this month, Kim made an unprecedented trip to Beijing for a large-scale multilateral gathering, watching a military parade standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kim also held bilateral meetings with Xi and Putin on the sidelines in a bid to portray an image that North Korea was no longer an isolated country and was trying to restore relations with China, the South Korean lawmakers said.
The South Korean intelligence agency believed that economic ties between Beijing and Pyongyang would inevitably expand following the meeting between Xi and Kim, most likely through unofficial trade, according to the lawmakers.
Kim Ju Ae
Kim Ju Ae, the North Korean leader’s daughter, has emerged as a significant figure in the country’s tightly controlled political landscape.
Although details about her remain scarce due to Pyongyang’s secrecy, she has increasingly appeared in public alongside her father, fueling speculation that she is being groomed as his successor.
Believed to have been born around 2013, Kim Ju Ae is the second child of Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju.
Her existence was first publicly acknowledged in 2013 when former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman visited North Korea and revealed meeting her.
However, she only came into the public eye in November 2022, when state media published images of her attending a missile launch with her father.
Since then, Kim Ju Ae has been a regular presence at high-profile events, including military parades and weapons inspections, often portrayed in state media as a central figure near her father.
(With inputs from Reuters)
