ALL IN THE FAMILY

Kim Jong Un Dangles Clues About North Korea’s Next Ruler

The Supreme Leader has a surprising pick for the role.

Kim Jong Un, 42, may be preparing to officially designate his 13-year-old daughter Kim Ju-ae as his successor, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). All former leaders of North Korea have been men, , fueling skepticism in the South over whether Kim Ju-ae would ultimately inherit power. However, Kim Ju-ae has been attending major state events with her father since 2022, including weapons tests and military parades—carefully choreographed displays of regime power. Most recently, she was present at a family visit to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum that houses the preserved bodies of past North Korean leaders. “In the past, [the NIS] described Kim Ju-ae as being in the midst of ‘successor training’. What was notable today is that they used the term ‘successor-designate stage’, a shift that’s quite significant,” Lee Seong Kweun, a South Korean lawmaker, told the Guardian. February holds one of the most momentous political conferences for North Korea, at which the 42-year-old authoritarian is set to outline his plans for the nation. If Kim Ju-ae is in attendance, that could be a clear sign that she is being primed for the seat of power, according to the NIS.