On Monday (6th), a South Korean parliament member stated that, according to credible intelligence from the South Korean National Intelligence Service, Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, has been designated as the successor. The intelligence agency indicated that Kim Ju-ae recently appeared driving a tank, likely to dispel external doubts.
According to Reuters, based on briefings by members of South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties after a closed-door parliamentary meeting, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) informed the lawmakers that this assessment was not based on indirect inferences but on their gathered “credible intelligence.”
Lawmakers indicated that the NIS pointed out that Kim Jong-un’s daughter’s tank driving appearance aimed to highlight her so-called “military abilities” and dispel external doubts about a female successor.
Following the release of footage showing Kim Ju-ae shooting with a rifle and a handgun at a firing range, North Korean state media KCNA released photos last month showing Kim Jong-un and his daughter driving a new type of tank.
South Korean Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won stated that the North Korean regime’s release of such footage is a “tribute” to Kim Jong-un’s public military appearances in the early 2010s when he was being groomed as the successor to his father, Kim Jong-il.
It is believed that Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, is around 13 years old. South Korean intelligence’s latest assessment of her goes further than previous analyses, as the agency previously only stated that she was “likely being groomed as a successor.”
Lawmakers cited the NIS’s statement that Kim Ju-ae has appeared multiple times at defense-related events to dispel doubts about a female successor and accelerate the succession narrative.
Previously, South Korean lawmakers stated that the increasingly prominent role of Kim Ju-ae according to the National Intelligence Service indicates that she is effectively the second most powerful figure in the North Korean leadership.
South Korean ruling party parliament member Lee Seong-kweun stated that the NIS indicated that the notion that Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister, might be “frustrated by the shifting focus to Kim Ju-ae” is wrong because Kim Yo-jong does not wield independent power.
However, some North Korea experts caution against overinterpreting Kim Ju-ae’s public appearances, warning not to consider them as a signal that she has been confirmed as the successor.
Senior analyst Hong Min from the Korea Institute for National Unification believes that merely by Kim Ju-ae driving a tank does not conclusively prove she has been designated as Kim Jong-un’s successor.
Hong Min pointed out that Kim Ju-ae was driving the tank alongside her father and not independently, unlike Kim Jong-un attending military events alone during the succession preparation phase.