Meet Ju Ae, the potential successor to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said on Monday that they have not “ruled out” the possibility that Kim Jong Un’s daughter may be the next in line to head North Korea, adding credence to the mounting rumors about his succession plans.

Kim’s adolescent daughter was described as a “great person of guidance” (hyangdo) by Pyongyang’s official media on Saturday. The word “hyangdo” is normally used only to refer to senior leaders and their successors.

Analysts noted that this was the first time the North had referred to Kim’s daughter, whom Pyongyang had never named but had South Korean intelligence identify as Ju Ae.

It has intensified conjecture that the teenager, who often stands behind her father at significant public gatherings, may have been selected for a third hereditary succession to govern the nuclear-armed North in the future.

During a briefing on Monday, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesperson for Seoul’s Unification Ministry, said that the title “hyangdo” is typically reserved for the highest-ranking official.

He acknowledged that Seoul was “monitoring the situation and remaining open to possibilities” and said, “We are not ruling out the possibility of Ju Ae’s succession.”

He did, however, issue a warning, saying that “North Korean people will bear the brunt of the fallout” if Ju Ae were to succeed her father as the fourth head of the isolated state.

When Ju Ae went with her father to the 2022 intercontinental ballistic missile launch, the official media first made her public.

She has since been referred to as the “morning star of Korea” and the “beloved child” by the North’s state media.

Several of her father’s official events, such as military exercises, a visit to a weapons plant, and a trip to a brand-new chicken farm, have been seen by her.

Ju Ae was shown on Saturday with her father and other top military leaders, watching recent paratroop maneuvers via binoculars. The photo was made public by Pyongyang.

Prior to 2022, the only source confirming her existence was Dennis Rodman, a former NBA player who claimed to have seen Kim’s infant daughter, Ju Ae, during a 2013 visit to the North.

Seoul had previously said that Ju Ae was the second child of Kim and his wife Ri, and that they had a boy as their first child in 2010.

However, Seoul’s minister for unification said a year ago that the government was “unable to confirm for sure” that Kim’s son existed.

After his father passed away in late 2011, Kim Jong Un took over the government. He has presided over four nuclear tests, the most recent of which took place in 2017.