North Korea appears to be preparing for a potential fourth-generation leadership transition, with growing signs that Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, is being positioned as a possible successor, an unprecedented move in the country’s history.
Her increasingly prominent public role has fueled speculation that Pyongyang may be grooming its first female leader, though analysts caution that significant political and structural barriers remain.
Kim Ju Ae, believed to be around 13 or 14 years old, is the only publicly known child of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
While North Korean state media has never officially named her, former US basketball player Dennis Rodman – who describes himself as a friend of Kim – said after a 2013 visit that the leader’s daughter was named Ju Ae.
Rodman also met Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, whose signature half-up hairstyle has since been widely associated with Ju Ae’s appearance.
But analysts say Pyongyang’s refusal to officially name her reflects caution, avoiding any explicit signal about succession.
Under North Korean tradition, the name of a supreme leader – or designated successor – is highlighted in bold type.
Speculation about succession intensified after a publication linked to the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea raised the issue last year.
The magazine Geunroja, aimed at party officials, discussed the need to designate a successor to inherit the leadership role, though it did not mention any names.
Despite this, South Korean political scientist Park Won-gon said the article signals internal preparation.
The magazine, he told Anadolu, “is endorsing Kim’s decision to nourish his daughter.”
The Kim family has ruled North Korea for three generations since its founding in 1948.
Kim Il Sung established the state and led it until his death in 1994, when power passed to his son Kim Jong Il. After Kim Jong Il’s death in 2011, Kim Jong Un assumed leadership, marking the third generation of dynastic rule.
Kim first introduced Ju Ae to the public in 2022 during an intercontinental ballistic missile test, when she appeared alongside him as a child in red shoes.
Since then, her appearances have increased dramatically.
Analysis of North Korean state broadcaster KCTV footage by Nikkei Asia found that she appeared on more than 600 days over a three-year period, with appearances broadcast roughly 24 days per month this year.
“The fact that his daughter, Ju Ae, has appeared alongside Kim Jong Un in the media and is co-hosting official events is evidence that they are moving toward a fourth-generation succession,” Chan-il Ahn, who defected from North Korea in 1979, told Anadolu from South Korea.
Park pointed to several other indicators that she is being groomed for power.
“She is talking, independent of her father, with North Korean officials; she has shown affection to North Korean people… embraced, hugged people, individually. (Such) actions can only be performed by a supreme leader,” he said.
Ju Ae has also begun appearing in diplomatic settings.
She accompanied her father to Beijing last September for a military parade, her first known foreign trip.
Park described the visit as part of a traditional succession pattern, where North Korean leaders introduce their heirs to Chinese leadership.
“It was an important moment and part of the succession process,” he said.
Despite these signals, analysts say Ju Ae remains far from being formally integrated into North Korea’s political system.
Park identified hurdles in the Kim family’s success in nominating their first female leader for North Korea.
“(Being female) is one of the barriers that Kim Jong Un needs to overcome since North Korea is a male-centered nation,” he said, noting the lack of female representation in top leadership roles.
Ju Ae’s age is another constraint.
At around 13, she is well below the minimum age of 19 required to become a member of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), he explained.
“Without membership of the WPK, no one can get any official title, neither from the party nor from government,” Park said.
Ahn supported this view, noting that military elites may resist a female successor.
“In North Korea, where a strong patriarchal order remains, there are still doubts about whether military figures will agree to a succession by Kim Ju Ae. This is precisely why Kim Jong Un is frequently seen accompanying her right now,” he said.
Analysts also stressed that North Korea’s political structure itself complicates succession planning.
North Korea “is simply a one-person rule country,” Park said, explaining that the system does not allow for a secondary leadership position.
Kim Jong Un is said to be 42, according to Ahn, who said he “suffers from critical conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, leading to a lack of confidence in his health.”
While he “is relatively young,” Park said that “if he allows second position (in state and party affairs), it means Kim Ju Ae becomes an official successor.”
“In such a chance, which would be very difficult and is not 100% ruled out, there is a possibility that such a situation would be a challenge to Kim Jong Un himself,” he added.
At the same time, Ahn said Pyongyang’s early preparation reflects lessons from the past.
He described it as a “cautionary” approach following what he called “chaos” after the sudden death of Kim Jong Il in 2011.
Park dismissed speculation that Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, is a likely successor despite her rising political profile. In February, she was elevated as an “alternate member” during the ninth congress of the ruling party.
“Because North Korea’s so-called Paektu Mountain bloodline is to be just son or a daughter, not the sister or brother, as successor,” he said, referring to the Kim family lineage that North Korean ideology treats as the only legitimate source of leadership.
According to official narratives, founding leader Kim Il Sung used the mountain as a hideout during resistance against Japanese occupation, while Kim Jong Il was said to be born near its summit.
Ultimately, analysts say acceptance of a future leader in North Korea depends less on identity and more on governance.
“The prevailing attitude is that it does not matter who is in charge, as long as they govern well,” Ahn said.
“If Chairman Kim Jong Un establishes a strong economic development system and hands it down to her, the North Korean people will not oppose her rule. The core issue is not politics, but economic development,” he added.
Ahn added that South Korea is also closely watching the trend.
“A fourth-generation succession is an irreversible mainstream trend in North Korean political history,” he said.
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