From ‘Beloved’ to ‘Respected’: Kim Jong Un’s Daughter Just Got a Promotion

Amid a sea of North Korean military officials adorned with shiny medals, a young girl sits front and center. 

This spot is normally reserved for the country’s leader Kim Jong Un. But his daughter Ju Ae—believed to be nine or 10 years old—was seen taking center stage in several images released by North Korea’s state media this week. They were photographed on Tuesday, the night before the totalitarian state marked its army’s 75th anniversary, with official news outlets calling the girl Kim’s “respected daughter.”

Experts say Ju Ae’s latest public appearance—her fourth ever—is the clearest sign as of yet that she’s being considered as North Korea’s next leader.  

In addition to Ju Ae’s prominence in the photo ops, Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the think tank Korea Institute for National Unification, also noted the new adjective North Korea’s state media used to describe her. Previously, she was referred to as Kim’s “beloved” or “precious” daughter.

“The term ‘respected’ is only used for Kim Jong Un. The use of similar respectful expressions to Kim Jong Un’s daughter is of great political significance. If they continue to use the expression ‘respect’ for Kim Jong Un’s daughter, it has important political implications,” he told VICE World News. 

Cho also said this was the first time in North Korean history that a leader’s daughter sat surrounded by such high military elites. Though the country has a few high-ranking women officials, such as Kim Jong Un’s sister and top aide Kim Yo Jong and Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, it’s still deeply patriarchal. This means Kim’s endorsement and Ju Ae taking her father’s spot at the dinner table was a key political move, Cho told VICE World News. 

Edward Howell, a lecturer in politics at the University of Oxford’s New College whose research covers North Korea’s nuclear program, said the photos show how Kim remains concerned with his personality cult.

“He wishes, like his father and grandfather, to be seen as paternal and maternal in his leadership, at a time when North Korea continues to experience domestic economic problems,” he said, adding that Ju Ae was still young and he wouldn’t jump to conclusions about Kim’s succession.

The speculation on Kim’s succession plans comes amid North Korea’s increasing tension with the South and the U.S. 

In January, the U.S. said it planned to deploy more advanced military assets—like bombers and aircrafts—to South Korea. North Korea threatened to counter such moves with the “most overwhelming nuclear force.”

At the banquet on Tuesday, Kim Jong Un praised the country’s “irresistible might” of his military, describing it as the “strongest army in the world.” Later that evening, he attended a military parade with his wife and daughter. About a dozen intercontinental ballistic missiles were paraded through Pyongyang.

Photos of Ju Ae were first released on Nov. 19, a day after she attended an intercontinental ballistic missile launch with her father.

Kim reportedly has three children: his second child Ju Ae, an elder son, and a younger daughter. Little is known about the son, including his age and name. His photos—if there is any—have never been released by North Korean authorities. But analysts said he, too, could be a potential successor to Kim.

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