What is known about Kim Jong Un's 13-year-old daughter, who is considered his successor
Kim Ju Ae regularly appears at important events with her father, and has now also received a high-ranking position in the structure overseeing the country's nuclear capabilities.
Photo: KCNA
According to South Korean media reports citing government sources, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un appointed his 13-year-old daughter Kim Ju Ae to a leadership position in the Missile Forces Bureau.
Kim Ju Ae may gradually be prepared for a role in the leadership of the Korean People's Army: she is being familiarized with generals' reports, and in some cases, she allegedly issues orders instead of the official head of the department.
It is believed that Kim Ju Ae was born in late 2012 — early 2013: throughout 2012, her mother Ri Sol Ju did not appear in public and was not mentioned in North Korean media, which was later linked to her pregnancy.
Ju Ae's name became known thanks to the stories of American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who maintained close relations with the Kim family. In September 2013, he stated that he had held Ju Ae in his arms.
Kim Ju Ae's first public appearance occurred in November 2022 at the age of 10, when she accompanied her father during the launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.
State media initially called her Kim Jong Un's "beloved daughter," but later began to characterize her as "respected daughter."
Subsequently, the girl began to regularly accompany her father to various important events.
Photo: KCNA
In February 2023, she attended sports competitions: a football match and a tug-of-war. In both cases, the Ministry of Defense team won: in football, they beat the Cabinet of Ministers' representatives 3:1, and in tug-of-war, 2:0. Ju Ae watched the competitions with Minister of Defense Kang Sun Nam and member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Cho Yong Won, as well as government members and employees of other ministries.
Photo: KCNA
At that time, Radio Free Asia reported that DPRK authorities were forcing girls and women named Ju Ae to change their names because the country's leader's 10-year-old daughter bore the same name.
The name change had to be made no later than one week. Now, the name Ju Ae is allegedly reserved for individuals of "highest dignity," a list that probably includes the Kim family's heir.
Photo: Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP
In March 2023, the girl was seen in a $2,800 Dior jacket. She and her father attended the launch of another Hwasong-17 missile, capable of reaching the US.
The distinctive rhombuses of the Dior puffer jacket are visible in the photo with Kim Jong Un's daughter
And this year, on February 16, she attended the opening in Pyongyang of a street named in honor of North Korean soldiers who died in the Kursk region.
Photo: KCNA
South Korea's National Intelligence Service previously noted that it continues to consider various options for Pyongyang's plans for succession (the country has been ruled by the third generation of Kims since 1950). North Korean citizens are instilled from birth with the idea that divine blood flows in the Kims' veins and that they are destined to rule the country from above.
It is entirely possible that Kim Jong Un will want to continue this tradition.
However, Kim Jong Un has an elder son, Jong Ju, born in 2010, but little is known about him. He is not seen in photos from official events; perhaps, like his father in his youth, he is studying in Western Europe.
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