South Korean spies say the evidence is now “unmistakable” that Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter has entered an official “successor” track, fuelling claims she has been picked as heir-in-waiting
Kim Jong Un’s daughter has long been tipped as the future North Korea leader as spies have just confirmed she’s in the “successor” stage.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not currently being replaced. However, South Korean intelligence believes his teenage daughter, who is commonly known as Kim Ju Ae despite her name never being officially revealed, has now effectively been picked as the heir-in-waiting. It is a move that could one day make her North Korea’s first female dictator.
On Tuesday (September 1), South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) briefed lawmakers that the evidence is now “unmistakable” that Kim’s daughter has entered an official succession track. After a closed-door plenary session of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, lawmakers relayed the NIS assessment to the press.
The NIS reported: “We believe there is a purpose to instill her as a leader among the North Korean residents.” South Korean Representative Yoon Kun-young, the ruling party’s secretary for the Intelligence Committee, revealed the information, SBS News reported.
Yoon said: “They are viewing it as effectively the stage of being designated as the successor. They believe there is a purpose to imprint her as a leader to the North Korean residents.”
NIS Director Lee Jong-seok previously told lawmakers it was “safe to view her as the successor”, based on “credible intelligence”, according to SBS News. It also said some analysis suggests Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, has been sidelined, with Lee reportedly saying it was “effectively confirmed that Kim Yo-jong has no substantive power”.
Experts increasingly believe Kim Jong Un’s daughter is being quietly groomed. Analysts and intelligence officials argue the messaging has become too consistent, and too carefully staged, to be brushed off as simple family propaganda.
She is consequently being featured far more heavily than most North Koreans ever see, with footage designed to burn her image into the public mind, SBS News reported. That includes scenes of her firing a pistol and even appearing to operate a main battle tank – highly symbolic images in a country where military power is central to legitimacy and leadership.
Furthermore, North Korean outlets have reportedly applied revered terms such as “respected child” – wording historically associated with Kim Jong Un himself before he took power – alongside grandiose phrases like “great person of guidance”, a title typically reserved for senior leaders.
Even so, specialists caution it could still take years for any real transition to happen. She is believed to be only around 13, so this would be a long-term plan.
There is also a potential structural delay baked into the system. A Workers’ Party of Korea rule change reportedly raised the minimum age to join the ruling party from 18 to 20, which experts say could push back any formal appointments.
Who is Kim Ju Ae?
Because North Korea is so secretive, much of what is known comes from the NIS and independent analysts. Though she is commonly known as Kim Ju Ae (also spelled Ju-ae), North Korea has never officially confirmed her real name.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman claimed in 2013 he held Kim’s baby daughter “Ju Ae”, and the name stuck, though some intelligence reporting has suggested alternatives such as Un Ju or Ju Ye.
Kim Jong Un’s daughter is believed to be about 13 years old, with South Korean assessments putting her birth around January 2013. Her exact details remain secretive, but she is thought to have been born in Pyongyang, inside one of the ruling family’s heavily guarded residential compounds.
NIS say she has not attended a normal public school. Instead, she is reportedly home-schooled inside the Kim family “palaces”, with private tutoring that goes beyond standard lessons and includes military-style training and ideological instruction designed to mould a future figure of authority.
She has been linked to horseback riding, skiing and swimming, with riding in particular long used in regime propaganda as a sign of strength, leadership and “destined” rule. Family-wise, she is said to be the daughter of Kim Jong Un and First Lady Ri Sol Ju.
She is believed to be the middle of three children – with an older brother thought to have been born around 2010 and a younger sibling whose gender has not been confirmed – yet she is the only child ever shown publicly, a fact experts say is telling in itself. Her public debut came in November 2022, when she was photographed holding her father’s hand at what was presented as an ICBM test launch.
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