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Experts believe Kim Jong-un is preparing his young daughter as his potential successor

Home> News

Published 00:48 29 Nov 2022 GMT

Experts believe Kim Jong-un is preparing his young daughter as his potential successor

Little is known about the girl, however the fact that she keeps cropping up at missile launches has started to raise eyebrows.

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang

Experts believe Kim Jong-un could have picked which child will succeed him to lead North Korea when he's gone.

The notorious world leader has been seen out and about with his daughter Kim Ju-ae twice now.

Kim's daughter, who is believed to be about 10 years of age, was snapped smiling next to her papa in front of an enormous nuclear missile.

So, you know, classic daddy-daughter bonding stuff.

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The happy snaps mark the second time in only seven days she has been photographed checking out the intercontinental missiles with her dad.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Kim Ju-ae check out their enormous cache of missiles.
UPI / Alamy

North Korean expert for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ankit Panda called the familial photo-op 'certainly striking'.

"The photograph of Kim Ju-ae standing alongside her father while being celebrated by technicians and scientists involved in the latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch would support the idea that this is the start of her being positioned as a potential successor," he said, as per CBS.

"State media underscoring her father's love for her further underscores this, I think."

Panda added that her presence seemed deliberate, perhaps to set a narrative for the child as the nation's possible future leader.

"Both of her initial public appearances have been in the context of strategic nuclear weapons, the crown jewels of North Korea's national defence capabilities," he said.

"That doesn't strike me as coincidental."

The father-daughter duo had their faces beamed out to the public thanks to the Korean Central News Agency.

State media went on to call Ju-ae as Kim's 'most beloved' and 'precious' child.

The suggestion that she is the Supreme Leader's favourite child carries a significant weight, and not just because it sucks for his other kids to be less liked by their own dad.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter on KCNA.
Zuma Press Inc/Alamy.

Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang from South Korea's Sejong Institute believes Kim cannot make his son his successor if there is any hint of weakness or lack of leadership.

Seong-Chang added the North Korean leader may be preempting pushback by choosing a girl, opting to take her to the missile launch to start building public loyalty and affection.

"When a king has many children, it’s natural for him to make his most beloved child his successor," Cheong said, as per AP.

"Kim Ju-ae is expected to appear occasionally at Kim Jong-un’s public events and take succession training."

Little is known about Ju-ae and the North Korean leader's other children.

Kim has worked to keep them well-shielded from not only the rest of the world, but also their home nation.

But, if the analysts are correct, we may be seeing much more of her in future.

Featured Image Credit: ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy. UPI / Alamy.

Topics: World News, Politics, News, Kim Jong-un

Rachel Lang
Rachel Lang

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