Kim Jong-Un’s daughter accompanies North Korean leader on his visit to China

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un attended the massive military parade China held in Tiananmen Square Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the end of World War II. On the arrival of his rail convoy at the Beijing train station, where he was greeted by Chinese authorities, Kim appeared alongside his daughter. The presence of the North Korean leader’s child, dressed in a navy blue jacket and pants suit with a bow in her hair, on his first visit to Pyongyang’s main strategic and economic ally since 2019, indicates the importance she has gained in recent years. Some analysts believe that her repeated public appearances could indicate she has been chosen to succeed her father.

The girl — who is believed to be 12 years old and could be named Kim Ju-ae (something Pyongyang has never confirmed) — also recently appeared alongside Kim in photographs released by North Korean state media at the opening of the Wonsan Kalma resort, an ambitious project on the coast of the secretive country. She also appeared in photographs at the military parade held in Pyongyang to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army, in 2023.

Although little is known about the offspring of the man who rules North Korea with an iron fist, intelligence in neighboring South Korea claims he has fathered three children with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, who are currently around 15, 12, and eight years old. Ju-ae is believed to be the middle child. Her name has never been officially mentioned by state media, but the eccentric former NBA player Dennis Rodman, who has visited North Korea several times, claimed, after a trip in 2013, to have met a daughter named Ju-ae, who was then a baby whom he held in his arms. Some North Korean defectors have validated this name.

In November 2022, Ju-ae made her first public appearance during the successful launch of the regime’s largest intercontinental missile. Some of the photos from that ballistic missile test were strangely symbolic: they showed the two, dictator and potential heir, walking hand-in-hand as any father would with his daughter, but with a huge rocket as background decoration; the Hwasong-17, nicknamed The Monster. Since then, she has reappeared on several occasions, opening the door to speculation about a possible succession.

Analysts specializing in North Korea, such as Ramón Pacheco Pardo, a senior lecturer at King’s College London, have since considered her frequent presence a sign that Kim wants to demonstrate that his daughter is the possible future heir, which in turn means that the Kim dynasty will not end with him. It could also be a sign of an underlying struggle to see which Kim would replace the North Korean leader if something were to happen to him, and that her presence denotes Kim’s choice.

Traveling to Beijing with her is a further symbol of her importance. When Kim Jong-il visited Beijing in 2010, he did so with his son Kim Jong-Un, according to South Korean media reports citing Seoul officials. Kim would eventually succeed his father just a year later, in 2011, following his death.

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