The North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s young daughter is seen by South Korea’s spy agency as her father’s potential heir apparent.
South Korea’s SEOUL — According to South Korea’s intelligence agency, the young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is thought to be her father’s heir apparent. This is the agency’s first evaluation of the girl, who was initially revealed to the public a little over a year ago.
Since the girl, identified as Ju Ae, first came to the attention of the public in November 2022—when she and her father witnessed a long-range missile test launch—there has been a great deal of outside discussion and conjecture around her. The girl is supposedly around ten years old.
Since then, the girl has accompanied her father to several significant public events; state media has portrayed her as her father’s “most beloved” or “respected” kid and has released images and videos that demonstrate their strong relationship and rising political status.
In September, when she was watching a military parade from a VIP observation platform, a senior general knelt down and whispered to her. During a visit to the air force headquarters in November, she was once seen standing in front of her father; both Kims were dressed in long leather coats and sunglasses. During a packed Pyongyang stadium’s New Year’s Eve celebration on Sunday, Kim Jong Un gave her a peck on the cheek, and she returned the favor to her father.
In North Korea, where Kim is revered as a deity by a devoted and ardent fan base, the majority of these scenes would have been unthinkable.
The National Intelligence Service, the primary spy organization in South Korea, declared on Thursday that it believes Kim Ju Ae to be her father’s most likely heir, citing a thorough examination of her public persona and the official documents granted to her.
Since Kim is still young, healthy, and has at least one more child, the NIS public affairs office informed The Associated Press that it continues to explore all options for the North’s power succession process. Kim has a 40th birthday on Monday.
The remarks made by MP Youn Kun-Young, who quoted Cho Tae-yong, the nominee for NIS chief, were corroborated by the NIS statement. Youn claimed that Cho had expressed the same opinion in written answers to his inquiries before to his parliamentary session.
Youn, a member of parliament’s intelligence committee, corroborated Cho’s judgment over the phone with the AP, and it matched what the NIS informed the AP. He said that no further information about Kim Ju Ae was included in Cho’s written answers to his inquiries.
One of the most secretive countries in the world, North Korea, has a patchy history of having advancements confirmed by the NIS. State media in North Korea has not yet commented directly on the succession plan.
According to Du Hyeogn Cha, an expert at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, while the NIS now regards Kim Ju Ae as ready to succeed her father, few can predict whether or not she will ultimately become the future leader of the North. Cha continued by saying that Kim Ju Ae does not have the political accomplishments that he claimed are necessary to be publicly recognized as the nation’s future leader.
NIS and other South Korean authorities had already stated that, considering Kim Jong Un’s relatively young age and North Korea’s male-nominated power ranking inspired by Confucianism, it was premature to regard Kim Ju Ae as her father’s heir. They had said that the girl’s frequent appearances were probably intended to bolster public support for Kim’s family’s rule and his intention to transfer power to one of his children.
Male Kim family members have controlled North Korea successively since its founding in 1948. Following the passing of his father, Kim Jong Il, in late 2011, Kim Jong Un came into power. Following the death of his father, the state’s founder, Kim Il Sung in 1994, Kim Jong Il assumed leadership.
Ju Ae’s name corresponded with what retired NBA player Dennis Rodman claimed to have seen and held during a 2013 trip to Pyongyang—Kim’s infant daughter. Kim Ju Ae has a younger sibling whose gender is unknown and an elder brother, according to information provided to parliamentarians by the NIS in 2023.
” Credit : abc NEWS
