From NPR · · 3m
North Korea's Kim Jong Un appears to be grooming daughter as heir
Defectors and analysts say Kim Ju Ae, reportedly 13, is being prepared to become the first woman to lead the isolated nuclear-armed state.
In brief
Defectors and analysts say Kim Ju Ae, reportedly 13, is being prepared to become the first woman to lead the isolated nuclear-armed state. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is publicly presenting his daughter Kim Ju Ae as his likely successor, marking a potential shift toward female leadership in the authoritarian…
Defector fled over succession fears
Kim Yumi left North Korea three years ago after state TV repeatedly showed leader Kim Jong Un with his young daughter, signalling hereditary power transfer to his child.
Why the succession matters
North Korea's next leader will govern an impoverished, nuclear-armed nation of twenty-six million people with little political freedom, strict state surveillance, and isolation from the outside world.
The daughter's public profile
Kim Ju Ae, reportedly about thirteen and named Kim Ju Ae, has made dozens of public appearances since late two thousand twenty-two, always with her father at weapons tests and military parades.
State media's messaging
State media has called Kim Ju Ae Kim's most beloved and respected child. Images show an elderly general kneeling before her and her standing in front of her father.
Spy agency assessment
South Korea's spy agency says Kim Ju Ae is Kim's likely heir. Eight of eleven defectors interviewed by the Associated Press shared that view.
Successor protocols observed
Tae Yongho, a former minister at North Korea's Embassy in London who defected to South Korea in two thousand sixteen, said officials treat Kim Ju Ae with protocols reserved for a successor, not simply for…
“They are repeating the same protocol and treatment they provided for Kim Jong Un when he accompanied his father as his heir.”
Defectors report inside views
Kang Mi-Jin, a defector running a company analyzing North Korea's economy, said her contacts inside the North told her over smuggled phones that Kim Ju Ae is in line to succeed her father.
Gender raises doubts
Much skepticism about Kim Ju Ae stems from her being female. Women in North Korea remain deeply underrepresented in senior posts, with only one of seventeen Workers' Party department directors being a woman.
The gender argument
Lee Si-young, a defector heading Free North Korea Radio, said some older North Koreans aren't happy with a woman taking power, but the Kim family are like gods reigning over humans so gender doesn't matter.
“They are like gods reigning over humans so gender really doesn't matter.”
Little resistance expected
Observers agree Kim Jong Un, forty-two, is likely to designate one of his children to prolong his family's rule, a move they expect would face little resistance at home.
Succession is institutionalised
Oh Gyeong-seob, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification, said hereditary power succession has been institutionalised in North Korea like presidential elections in other systems.
“A hereditary power succession system has been institutionalised in North Korea, just like presidential elections in our system.”
Citizens will accept succession
North Koreans will passively accept a hereditary succession as something they should go along with, according to Ahn Chan-il, a defector and scholar heading the World Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul.
Surveillance enforces loyalty
Defector Jeon Jae-hyun said North Korea's pervasive surveillance apparatus keeps people from voicing discontent with the government and helps enforce political loyalty to the regime.
The bottom line
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is publicly presenting his daughter Kim Ju Ae as his likely successor, marking a potential shift toward female leadership in the authoritarian dynasty.
