Kim Jong-un’s daughter referred to as ‘great person of guidance,’ seen as successor
North Korean leader Kim Jongun’s young daughter has been referred to as a “great person of guidance,” fueling speculation that she is her father’s potential heir.
Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s state-run newspaper, used honorifics exclusively for Kim and his daughter, believed to be named Ju-ae, in the coverage of their inspection of a greenhouse farm in Pyongyang. Saturday’s issue of the newspaper referred to them as the “great persons of guidance” while delivering the news that the two had attended a ceremony marking the completion of the Kangdong Greenhouse Farm in Pyongyang on Friday.
“The great persons of guidance, together with cadres of the Party, the government and the military, went around the farm,” it said.
This was the first time Kim’s daughter had been described as such by the North. North Korea’s state media carried news of her public appearances on 26 occasions, 23 of them military-related and three economy-related.
On Saturday, she was seen using binoculars to observe paratrooper drills with her father.
Experts say Ju-ae’s repeated exposure in state media highlights her special role in North Korean politics and potential rise to power.
“The North Korean term ‘hyangdo’ means guidance and is used only to refer to top leaders or successors,” Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute, said. “The level of personal worship for Ju-ae suggests that she will likely succeed Kim Jongun to be the next leader of North Korea.”
Cheong added that her role has been expanded to the economy and other areas, hinting at the North Korean leader’s strong willingness to promote Ju-ae as his successor.
Seoul’s unification ministry also said, Monday, there is a possibility that the teenager could become his successor in what could mark the third hereditary power succession.
“Given the level of protocol and the expression shown in North Korea’s official media, the possibility of Kim Ju-ae’s succession cannot be ruled out,” ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told reporters in a regular press briefing.
Ju-ae made her first public appearance in late 2022 when she accompanied her father to the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile.