North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, believed to be named Ju Ae, stood at his side during a military parade this week, fueling mounting speculation the teenager is being positioned as the fourth leader of the Kim dynasty.
Newsweek reached out by email to the North Korean Embassy in China with a request for comment.
Why It Matters
Ju Ae, believed to be around 13 years old, was first revealed to the outside world by former NBA star Dennis Rodman following one of his visits to North Korea, though state media has never publicly confirmed her name. Since 2022, she has appeared with her father at an increasing number of high-profile public events.
South Korean intelligence assesses she’s the most likely heir apparent. Analysts note, however, a female supreme leader would break with long-standing precedent in North Korea’s deeply patriarchal political culture. Whoever ultimately succeeds Kim will shape regional security dynamics and relations with U.S.-allied South Korea, which are at their most strained in decades.
What To Know
Kim Ju Ae joined Kim Jong Un, 42, at the podium in Kim Il Sung Square on Tuesday night during a large-scale military parade marking the conclusion of the once-every-five-years Workers’ Party Congress, photos released by state media showed. Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, also clad in black, was seated behind them.
Smiling and dressed in matching leather jackets, the father and daughter oversaw a 21-gun salute, columns of goose-stepping Korean People’s Army troops, cavalry mounted on white horses, and tanks, and stood for a flag-raising ceremony.
The event comes days after reports suggesting the teenager has been given increased responsibilities. A senior South Korean official told media she is believed to hold a leadership role within the country’s Missile Administration where she is said to receive briefings and issue directives.
During the Ninth Party Congress, the rubber-stamp legislature reelected Kim as general secretary, extending his tenure, and outlined economic and security priorities for the next five-year plan.
The report that emerged from the weeklong event hailed the country as a “full-fledged nuclear weapons state” and reaffirmed its goal of rapidly advancing its United Nations-sanctioned nuclear capabilities, which it has enshrined in its constitution as an indispensable guarantor of national survival. Leaders also reiterated their hostility toward South Korea, calling it the “most hostile entity” and stating there is nothing to discuss with the neighbor.
What People Are Saying
Kim Jong Un said in his closing address at the Workers’ Party Congress, according to the Korean Central News Agency: “The new five-year plan […] is a plan aimed at further expanding and intensifying the struggle for the comprehensive development of socialism, and it is raising the demand as to what ideological viewpoint and attitude we should work with and what practical successes we should achieve for the Party and the people in the future.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday during a visit to the Caribbean: “The United States is ready to engage in dialogue with all government officials. We are always prepared to listen to the perspectives others express, whether it be Iran now, or North Korea at some point in the future.”
What Happens Next
The North Korean report left open the possibility of dialogue with the U.S., stating “peaceful coexistence” is possible if Washington ends its “hostile policy” and respects the country’s constitutionally enshrined nuclear weapons capability.
President Donald Trump, who met Kim three times during his first term in a failed effort to persuade him to scale back his nuclear program, has said he remains open to resumed dialogue with the North Korean leader.
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