South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) says it is now fair to view North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter as his heir, its strongest public assessment yet on the rising political status of a girl who could extend the Kim family’s rule into a fourth generation.
State media has called the girl Kim’s “most beloved” or “respected” child. Since late 2022 she has appeared with her father at a series of high-profile events, prompting outside speculation that she is being groomed as North Korea’s future leader.
In a closed-door briefing at the National Assembly, NIS director Lee Jong-seok told lawmakers the girl could be considered Kim’s successor, according to lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the meeting. When asked about possible objections from Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong—long regarded as the regime’s No. 2—Lee said the NIS assesses she has no substantial powers, citing unspecified “reliable intelligence.”
The NIS has incrementally strengthened its public judgments about the girl. In early 2024 the agency described her as Kim’s likely heir in its first official assessment of possible grooming; in February it said she appeared close to being designated the country’s future leader.
Some analysts dispute the NIS view, arguing North Korea’s strongly male-centred political culture would resist a woman leader, and that Kim, 42, is too young to name a successor—an act that could weaken his hold on power.
The girl is widely reported to be named Kim Ju Ae and about 13 years old, though North Korean state media has not confirmed personal details. The reported name traces to former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who said he held Kim’s baby daughter during a 2013 visit to Pyongyang.
North Korea, established in 1948, has been ruled successively by male members of the Kim family: founder Kim Il Sung, succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il in 1994, and then by Kim Jong Un after Kim Jong Il’s death in late 2011.
Recent public moments involving the girl include driving a tank during army training overseen by her father and the pair firing pistols at a light munitions factory. The NIS told lawmakers North Korean authorities appear to have staged such events to build her military credentials and to “dispel scepticism about a woman successor,” according to lawmaker Lee. Lawmaker Park Sunwon, who also attended the briefing, made similar remarks about the significance of her military appearances. (AP)
