South Korea’s spy agency says Kim Jong Un is close to nominating his daughter as the future leader

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Thursday it believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter has been earmarked as the country’s future leader as he moves to extend the family dynasty into the fourth generation.

The assessment by the National Intelligence Service comes as North Korea prepares to hold its biggest political summit 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.

In a closed-door briefing, NIS officials said they were closely monitoring whether Kim’s daughter — Kim Ju Ae, said to be about 13 years old — appeared with him before thousands of delegates at the upcoming Workers’ Party congress, said lawmaker Lee Seong Kwen, who attended the meeting.

Making her first public appearance at a long-range missile test in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings. She traveled to Beijing last September for Kim’s first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years since the outbreak of World War II.

Speculation about his political future intensified last month when he accompanied his parents on a New Year’s Day visit to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred family mausoleum that displays the bodies of his late grandfather and great-grandfather, the country’s first and second generation leaders. Some experts saw the visit as a clear sign of his succession to his 42-year-old father.

South Korean officials initially expressed doubt that he could be chosen as North Korean leader, citing the country’s deeply conservative culture and tradition of male-dominated leadership. But his increasingly prominent presence in state media has prompted a reassessment.

In its previous assessment of Kim Ju Ae’s status in September, the NIS told lawmakers that the decision to bring Kim Jong Un on a visit to China was likely part of an effort to build a “narrative” that would pave the way for his succession.

“In the past, (NIS) described Kim Ju Ae as being in the middle of ‘successor training.’

According to Lee, the agency noted his increased presence at high-profile military events, his inclusion in family visits to Kumsusan, and signs that Kim Jong Un is beginning to seek his input on some policy matters.

Not much is known about Kim’s daughter

Despite her increased visibility in propaganda, North Korea’s state media has never published the name of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, only referring to her as an “honored” or “most beloved” child.

The belief that she was named Kim Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, in which he recalled holding Kim Jong Un’s daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013. South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born that year.

In 2023, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un and his wife also likely have an older son and a younger third child whose gender is unknown.

Since its founding in 1948, North Korea has been ruled by male members of the Kim family, followed by the country’s founder Kim Il Sung and then his son Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Un was just 26 years old when Kim Jong Il was officially declared the successor at the 2010 Party Congress, two years after his debilitating abdication. After his father’s death in December 2011, he was suddenly thrust into the throne with relatively little preparation.

Some analysts suggest that Kim Jong Un’s decision to debut his daughter early likely reflects his own experience of being rushed to power.

A party’s congress can signal succession planning

Kim Ju A’s first known visit to Kumsusan last month was also his father’s first in three years. Given the palace’s status as a key symbol of the Kim family’s rule, the trip should be seen as a symbolic gesture by Kim Jong Un to present his daughter as the successor to her grandfather and father, said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.

The Workers’ Party congresses in 2016 and 2021 last February could provide a platform for Kim Jong Un to formalize his succession plan, possibly giving his daughter the party’s first secretary position, its No. 2 job, although such a decision may not be immediately revealed to the outside world, Cheong said.

Other analysts question whether he would get such a high-profile post or any formal party role given that party rules require members to be at least 18 years old.

If Kim Jong Un uses the party congress to cement his daughter as the successor, the signals will be more subtle, said Koh Yu-hwan, former president of South Korea’s National Unification Institute.

For example, the party may issue self-praise about how North Korea survived longer than other communist states and credit how the country established a “successful legacy of revolution.”

“If you see comments like that, it would be reasonable to think that Ju Ae is cemented,” as the successor, Koh said.