The teenage daughter of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un could be considered his successor, Seoul’s spy agency has been reported as saying.
The baby, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and aged round 13, has accompanied her father to a number of high-profile occasions since late 2022.
And the pair rode in a tank collectively final month, sparking additional hypothesis she is being positioned because the secretive nation’s future chief.
On Monday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Lee Jong-seok stated in a closed-door briefing on the National Assembly the lady could be considered Mr Kim‘s successor, based on Lee Seong Kweun, one of many politicians in attendance.
NIS reportedly stated its evaluation was based mostly on “credible intelligence” collected by the agency.
Asked about potential protests from Mr Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong, who has lengthy been seen as North Korea‘s quantity two determine, the NIS director responded that she has no substantial powers, Mr Lee advised a briefing.
It is the agency’s strongest evaluation but on the rising political standing of {the teenager} who it believes could lengthen her household’s rule right into a fourth technology.
Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong. Pic: AP
In early 2024, the NIS described the kid as Mr Kim’s probably inheritor, and in February this 12 months, the agency stated it believed she was near being designated because the nation’s future chief.
Some observers disagree with the assessments, arguing North Korea’s extraordinarily male-centred society will probably not embrace a girl chief.
Kim Jong Un and Kim Ju Ae observe a missile check launch. Pic: KCNA/Reuters
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They additionally say Mr Kim, 42, is simply too younger to call a future chief, a improvement that could weaken his ruling of the nation.
In a public look in March, the pair fired pistols throughout a go to to a light-weight munitions manufacturing unit.
Kim Jong Un and his daughter are pictured on a tank at a army coaching base. Pic: AP
The NIS, throughout Monday’s briefing, stated North Korean authorities appeared to have organised such occasions to construct up her army credentials and “reduce scepticism about a woman successor”, Mr Lee stated.
The lady’s reported title relies on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who recalled holding Mr Kim’s child daughter throughout a go to to Pyongyang in 2013.
Kim Jong Un and daughter Kim Ju Ae. Pic: Reuters
North Korea, established in 1948, has been successively dominated by male members of the Kim household.
Kim Jong Un inherited energy upon his father Kim Jong Il’s dying in late 2011. Kim Jong Il took management after his father and state founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994.
