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Bloomberg

Agence France-Presse

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s preteen daughter is receiving lessons to take over the country, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers, in a rapid elevation for the girl who made her first foray into the public eye less than two years ago.
Ju-ae – who has been dubbed the “respected daughter” and “beloved child” by state media – is a candidate to be the next in line in the Kim family that has ruled the state since its founding in the late 1940s, lawmakers said the National Intelligence Service told them in a closed-door session Monday.
MP Lee Seong-kweun said the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has judged that she has been chosen as heir.
“Pyongyang is teaching Kim Ju-ae to be heir apparent, indicating she’s the most likely successor,” Lee told reporters after the agency briefing.
The NIS also told parliamentarians that Kim Jong-un is now “heavily overweight” at “around 140kg”, putting him at “high risk of heart-related illness”.
Kim, who is widely known to be a cigarette smoker, was said to have shown symptoms of high blood pressure and diabetes in his early 30s, Lee said, quoting the NIS.
North Korea also appears to be adjusting Kim Ju-ae’s level of exposure to the public, monitoring how North Koreans react to her role as potential successor, the NIS told MPs.

However, the NIS has not ruled out the possibility that another sibling could emerge as a potential alternative in the succession plan, Park said, given that North Korea has not made an official succession announcement.
Ju-ae first appeared in North Korean state media in November 2022 in a puffy white winter coat, holding her father’s hand to stroll past a nuclear-capable missile designed to obliterate an American city. Since then, she has appeared at weapons tests, state functions and even at sporting events, always with her father.
The role of Kim’s daughter in state propaganda appears to be showing the public there is another generation waiting to run the family dynasty, and it will rely on nuclear weapons for its survival.
South Korea’s spy agency has pegged her age at about 11 and believes her to be the second of three children between Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. One of Ju-ae’s biggest moments was in February 2023 when she joined her mother and father at a banquet honouring the military and was placed front and centre in a photo with some of the most powerful members of the armed forces.
No other child of a North Korean leader had ever been shown in such a fashion at such an early age, and her appearance broke the tradition of keeping the leader’s children out of the public eye until they were a part of the state’s apparatus.


Still, there are questions about whether Kim Jong-un has decided that his daughter will take over. North Korea’s other leaders – state found Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il – installed their adult sons in the state apparatus to train them as successors, giving them official posts as they waited in the wings, which added to their stature. The daughter has yet to be formally identified by name in official media reports.
Given Kim Jong-un’s relatively young age of 40, he could be in power for decades. Still, he’s overweight and a heavy smoker who has battled health problems, so succession is a subject of concern.
South Korea’s spy agency also said they were closely monitoring Kim Jong-un’s health condition as he appeared extremely obese, estimated to weigh up to 140 kilograms, the lawmakers said.
The parliament members addressed reporters and read notes from the meeting. The NIS usually does not comment on what its officials told members of parliament during the sessions of the intelligence committee.


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North Korea

Daughter of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un ‘likely successor’, South Korea’s spy agency says

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is grooming his daughter, Ju-ae, as his successor to lead the nuclear-armed state, according to South Korean MPs briefed by Seoul’s spy agency on Monday.: kcna/dpa/file

Kim Ju-ae (left) is a candidate to be the next in line in the Kim family, and take over for her father Kim Jong-un as leader of North Korea. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP

North Korea rejects Trump’s overtures, shrugs off US election outcome: ‘we do not care’

Then US President Donald Trump poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a photo in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019. Photo: AP

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A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a South Korean news programme on July 2. Photo: AP

US Vice-President Kamala Harris stands next to the demarcation line at the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in 2022. Photo: Reuters

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A balloon presumably sent by North Korea, is seen in a paddy field in Incheon, South Korea, on June 10. Photo: AP

Loudspeakers set up for propaganda broadcasts near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea in 2018. South Korea said on Friday it has restarted anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the border. Photo: AP

Defector’s testimony offers ‘sickening’ glimpse of North Korea’s violent purges

The North Korean flag. Ri Il-kyu, a former high-ranking diplomat tasked by Pyongyang with preventing Cuba from establishing diplomatic ties with Seoul, defected in November. Photo: EPA-EFE

A North Korean flag flutters atop a 160-metre tower in Kijong-dong village, near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone between the Koreas. Photo: AP

South Korean soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. Photo: AP

Will Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae be the next leader of North Korea?

Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae and sister Yo-jong. Photo: SCMP

Is Kim Jong-un’s ‘respected’ daughter North Korea’s next leader or merely a propaganda vehicle?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with his daughter Kim Ju-ae at a banquet to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea in this photo released on February 8. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and his daughter observing a demonstration flight as they visit the Korean People’s Army’s 1st Army Division Flight Regiment to commemorate “Aviation Day” on November 30. Photo: KCNA/dpa

Kim Jong-un (centre) and his daughter (left) visit the 1st Air Force Division Flying Regiment of the Korean People’s Army to commemorate “Aviation Day” on November 30. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP

Kim Jong-un and his daughter applaud a musical performance for “Aviation Day” on November 30. Photo: KCNA/Korea News Service via AP

Kim Jong-un, his wife Ri Sol-ju (left) and their daughter Ju-ae attend a banquet in Pyongyang to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, in this photo released on February 8. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

(From left) North Korean leaders from past to present: Kim Il-sung in 1980; Kim Jong-il in 2010; and Kim Jong-un in 2017. Photo: KCNA/Korea News Service via AP

Kim Jong-un with his daughter Ju-ae at a banquet to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea in this photo released on February 8. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

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Asia

East Asia

Kim Ju-ae has been seen with her father at a variety of events, fuelling speculation Kim Jong-un has chosen her as heir apparent


Kim Ju-ae has been seen with her father at a variety of events, fuelling speculation Kim Jong-un has chosen her as heir apparent to lead a fourth generation of hereditary rule by his family.


Kim Jong-un

South Korea

Korean peninsula

Women and gender