Seoul’s spy agency names Kim Jong-un’s ‘likely successor’

Kim Ju-ae is taking leadership classes to lead North Korea as her father’s successor, Bloomberg reports
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His preteen daughter is reportedly being trained to become North Korea’s next leader

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s preteen daughter is taking leadership lessons to take over the reins of the country, according to Bloomberg, citing South Korea’s spy agency.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reportedly told lawmakers in a closed-door session on Monday that Ju-ae is a candidate to be the next in line in the Kim family, which has ruled the country since its founding in the late 1940s.

“North Korea has hinted Kim Ju-ae as a candidate for successor at this point with lessons to succeed her father under way,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party was quoted as telling reporters after a parliamentary session. “They have been adjusting the level of propaganda and the frequency of her appearance, taking into account the public reaction on her,” Lee stated.

Dubbed by state media a “respected daughter” and “beloved child,” Kim Ju-ae made her first public appearance in November 2022, when she watched a test of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile along with her father.

She has since made dozens of appearances, accompanying the North Korean leader to missile launches and military sites, state functions, even to sporting events.

According to the NIS, Ju-ae is aged at about 11 and is believed to be the second of three children between Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju.

The report pointed out Ju-ae’s participation last year at a state banquet honoring the military, and her subsequent placement “front and center in a photo with some of the most powerful members of the armed forces.”

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“No other child of a North Korean leader had ever been shown in such a fashion at such an early age,” Bloomberg wrote, noting that traditionally the state leader’s children were kept out of the public eye until they were a part of the state’s apparatus.

North Korea state founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il reportedly also installed their adult sons in the state apparatus to train them as successors, giving them official posts, which added to their stature.

The report indicated that given Kim Jong-un’s relatively young age of 40, he could be in power for decades.

However, the NIS was closely monitoring the North Korean leader’s health condition, according to the lawmakers.