Kim Jong Un’s daughter visits the family mausoleum, promoting her position as heir to North Korea
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The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made her first known visit to the family shrine, a move experts say cemented her position as her father’s heir.
The visit, which took place on New Year’s Day on Thursday, also sparked speculation that the girl – reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged around 13 – could be nominated as a top official at the upcoming Workers’ Party congress.
Pictures carried by North Korean state media on Friday showed Kim Ju Ae standing in front of her parents and bowing deeply at Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace, where the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather are displayed.
The palace is “a place that shows the legitimacy of the North Korean regime” and his visit there ahead of the Workers’ Party congress is a planned political move, said Cheong Seong-Chang, deputy head of South Korea’s Sejong Institute.
Kim Jong Un, 41, is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea since the country was founded in 1948. He often marks important state anniversaries by visiting Kumsusan Palace and honoring his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung.
Cheong predicted that Kim Jong Un may give his daughter the position of first secretary of the Workers’ Party, the party’s No. 2 job, at the summit. Some experts say he is too young to accept such a high position and may be offered lower-level jobs.
The conference – the first of its kind in five years – is aimed at establishing new priorities in state policies and reorganizing the bureaucracy. North Korea has not said when it will be held, but the National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s spy agency, said it could be held in January or February.
Since her first national media appearance in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has accompanied her father to many events, including military parades and missile launches. In September, Kim Jong Un brought him on his trip to Beijing. During the New Year celebrations this week, he kissed his father on the cheek to show their closeness.
In January 2024, the NIS said that it considers Kim Ju Ae as a possible heir to his father. Some foreign experts disagree with that assessment, citing Kim Jong Un’s age compared to the extremely male-dominated nature of North Korea’s power hierarchy. The NIS told law enforcement in November that Kim did not appear to have any major health problems.
Revealing a young Kim Ju Ae came as a surprise to outside experts, because neither Kim Jong Un nor Kim Jong Il were mentioned in North Korean state media before they became adults. Some observers say that Kim Jong Un may have intended to support the public in his plan to extend the family’s rule by repeatedly exposing Kim Ju Ae at public events.
