{"id":567830,"date":"2026-04-06T12:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/567830\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:26:08","slug":"seoul-says-its-fair-to-view-kims-teen-daughter-as-his-heir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/567830\/","title":{"rendered":"Seoul says it’s fair to view Kim’s teen daughter as his heir"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 South Korea\u2019s spy agency says it\u2019s now fair to view the teenage daughter<\/a> of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un<\/a> as his heir, its strongest assessment yet on the rising political status of the girl who it believes could extend her family\u2019s rule into a fourth generation. <\/p>\n

The girl, dubbed by state media as Kim\u2019s \u201cmost beloved\u201d or \u201crespected\u201d child, has accompanied her father to numerous high-profile events since late 2022, sparking outside speculation that she\u2019s being groomed as the North\u2019s future leader.<\/p>\n

In a closed-door briefing at the National Assembly Monday, South Korea\u2019s National Intelligence Service director Lee Jong-seok said the girl could be considered Kim\u2019s successor, in response to questions by lawmakers about her political standing, according to Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.<\/p>\n

Asked about possible protests by Kim\u2019s sister Kim Yo Jong,<\/a> who has been long regarded as the North\u2019s No. 2 figure, the NIS director responded that she has no substantial powers, lawmaker Lee told a briefing. He cited the NIS as citing unspecified \u201creliable intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a stronger assessment by the NIS on the girl\u2019s status. In early 2024, it described the girl as her father\u2019s likely heir<\/a>, its first official assessment on her possible grooming as the North\u2019s next leader. In February this year, the agency said it believed she was close to being designated<\/a> as the country\u2019s future leader.<\/p>\n

Some observers disagree with the NIS\u2019 assessment, saying North Korea\u2019s extremely male-centered society won\u2019t likely embrace a woman leader. They also said Kim, 42, is too young to name his successor, a development that could weaken his grip on power.<\/p>\n

The girl is reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about 13, but North Korea\u2019s state media hasn\u2019t released such personal details. Her reported name is based on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who recalled holding Kim Jong Un\u2019s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang<\/a> in 2013. <\/p>\n

Established in 1948, North Korea has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family. Kim Jong Un inherited power upon his father Kim Jong Il\u2019s death<\/a> in late 2011. Kim Jong Il took over power after his father and state founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994.<\/p>\n

Some of the girl\u2019s recent public appearances included her driving a tank<\/a> during army training supervised by her father and the pair firing pistols<\/a> during a visit to a light munitions factory.<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s briefing, the NIS said North Korean authorities appeared to have organized such events to build up her military credentials and \u201creduce skepticism about a woman successor,\u201d lawmaker Lee said.<\/p>\n

Park Sunwon, another lawmaker who attended the briefing, made similar comments on the NIS\u2019 assessment on the girl\u2019s recent military appearances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 South Korea\u2019s spy agency says it\u2019s now fair to view the teenage daughter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1204,236,10507,88,793,2026,186874,186872,6507,186871,34055,250809,250810,1576,6505,6506,111,17173,1866,18224,965],"class_list":{"0":"post-567830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-asia-pacific","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-dennis-rodman","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-international-news","14":"tag-kim-il-sung","15":"tag-kim-jong-il","16":"tag-kim-jong-un","17":"tag-kim-ju-ae","18":"tag-kim-yo-jong","19":"tag-lee-jong-seok","20":"tag-lee-seong-kweun","21":"tag-military-and-defense","22":"tag-north-korea","23":"tag-north-korea-government","24":"tag-politics","25":"tag-seoul","26":"tag-south-korea","27":"tag-teens","28":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}