The teenaged daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accompanied him on his visit to China this week, her first international diplomatic outing that will reinforce speculation she is being groomed as the next leader of the Kim dynasty.
Newsweek contacted the North Korean Embassy in Beijing via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Nuclear-armed North Korea is one of the world’s most secretive countries and little information on its leadership and government has emerged since the formation of the country under Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, after World War II.
The trip by Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, to China for a grand military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender and the official end of World War II in the Pacific, is her first international diplomatic outing and thrusts her to the forefront of the world stage.
Her visit could be the most important signal yet, to both the domestic North Korean audience and the global one, that Kim Jong Un sees her as his successor.
What To Know
China organized the military parade at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific and to showcase its growing military might.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Beijing for the parade as an important show of unity and defiance toward what they see as a world illegitimately dominated by the United States.
Photos released by North Korean state media showed Ju Ae standing behind her father after they stepped off his train and were greeted by Chinese officials upon arriving in Beijing on Tuesday.
Another prominent member of the Kim family is the leader’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, the regime’s propaganda chief and long seen as a strong candidate for the leadership role.
However, according to analysts, Ju Ae’s high-profile appearance at various domestic functions in recent months—she made her diplomatic debut at a Russian Embassy event in May—and now the Beijing trip, could indicate she is preferred over her aunt as leader in waiting.
South Korea‘s main National Intelligence Service, in a closed-door parliamentary briefing last year, reported that Ju Ae was being groomed as successor, politicians who attended the meeting said at the time.
Either of the women would become the first female leader of the intensely patriarchal government.
What People Are Saying
Cheong Seong-Chang, vice president at South Korea’s Sejong Institute research center, told the Yonhap news agency: “Kim Jong Un’s decision to bring Ju Ae along to China is seen as a strong signal to the international community that she’s his likely successor, as well as an opportunity for her to begin formal diplomatic training.”
What Happens Next
It could be years before any announcement is made about North Korea’s next leader. Kim Jong Un is believed to be only 41, but he has appeared overweight for years and is often shown in pictures smoking.
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