The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made her first public visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the state mausoleum where former leaders are enshrined, fuelling speculation that she is being groomed as the next ruler. Photos released by state news agency KCNA on 1 January showed Kim Jong-un, his wife Ri Sol-ju, and their daughter Kim Ju-ae standing in the main hall of the palace, with Ju-ae positioned between her parents.
The visit to the Kumsusan Palace, where Kim Jong-un pays respects to his grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il on key dates, is seen as a significant step in Ju-ae's public emergence. Over the past three years, she has appeared increasingly in state media, leading analysts and South Korea's intelligence agency to suggest she is being prepared as the country's fourth-generation dictator.
Cheong Seong-chang, vice-president at the Sejong Institute thinktank, described the visit as a calculated move ahead of the upcoming ruling party congress, where her succession might be formalised. Hong Min, an expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification, noted that North Korea has been portraying an image of a stable family by featuring Kim's wife and daughter at major events.
However, Hong cautioned that publicly designating Ju-ae, believed to be around 13 years old, as successor is practically impossible before she is old enough to join the Workers' Party. Kim Ju-ae, thought to have been born in the early 2010s, also attended this year's New Year celebrations and travelled to Beijing with her father in September on her first public overseas trip.
