Who is Kim Ju Ae? Kim Jong Un’s ‘respected daughter’ making her foreign debut in China - Could she be North Korea’s first female leader?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Who is Kim Ju Ae? Kim Jong Un’s ‘respected daughter’ making her foreign debut in China - Could she be North Korea’s first female leader?")
Who is Kim Ju Ae? Kim Jong Un’s daughter making her foreign debut in China Photograph: (AFP)
Kim Jong Un brought his teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, to Beijing for her first overseas appearance, fueling speculation she’s being groomed as successor amid growing visibility at key state events.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has brought his teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, to Beijing in what is being seen as her first overseas appearance, a move that has intensified speculation she is being groomed as his successor. State photos showed Ju Ae, dressed in a navy blue suit, stepping off her father’s armoured train in the Chinese capital, where she was welcomed by Chinese officials ahead of Wednesday’s military parade marking Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.
Although her age and name have never been confirmed by North Korean authorities, Ju Ae is believed to be in her early teens. She has frequently been seen by her father’s side at high-profile events in Pyongyang, including missile launches, military parades, and the recent opening of a coastal resort.
She was first revealed to the outside world in 2013, when former NBA star Dennis Rodman claimed he had held Kim’s baby daughter during a visit to Pyongyang. Nearly a decade later, she appeared publicly at an intercontinental ballistic missile launch in 2022, her debut in North Korean state media, which now refers to her as Kim’s “respected” daughter.
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Who is Kim Ju Ae? Kim Jong Un’s daughter making her foreign debut in China Photograph: (AFP)
Analysts see her as the ‘front runner’
Experts believe her growing prominence is deliberate. Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership specialist at the Stimson Centre, told Reuters, “Right now, Ju Ae is the frontrunner as the next supreme leader of North Korea. She is getting practical protocol experience, which should serve her well as North Korea’s next leader or a core elite.”
South Korea’s intelligence service has also suggested that she is being prepared for leadership, though it remains unclear how the ruling party and military elite would respond to a woman taking power in the highly patriarchal state.
If Ju Ae does eventually succeed her father, she would be the fourth member of the Kim dynasty to rule the secretive nation, following in the footsteps of her great-grandfather Kim Il Sung, her grandfather Kim Jong Il, and her father Kim Jong Un. There is little precedent for such a public grooming process, Kim Jong Un himself never accompanied his father abroad, and his rise to power was only revealed late in Kim Jong Il’s rule.
Kim, now in his early forties, has faced speculation about his health over the years, with reports of gout and concerns over his weight. But he has remained firmly in control since the pandemic.
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