By: Bryan Li

Her sudden appearance on North Korean media leads to theories about Kim Jong-Un’s successor.

Not much is known about Kim Ju-Ae, Kim Jong-Un’s “most beloved” daughter, but her sudden appearances on North Korean media may be a plot to reveal Kim Jong-Un’s successor early on. Mr. Kim recently released photos of himself and his daughter watching a test missile launch and walking around the launch site.

Mr. Kim has kept his daughter hidden from the public for years. These photos, which include Kim Jong-Un and his daughter in front of a crowd of clapping soldiers, watching the missile launch, and standing in front of a military truck, were the first time many North Koreans saw Mr. Kim’s daughter. Once it was confirmed that the girl in the photo was his daughter, experts tried to figure out why Mr. Kim would release the photos, and why he decided to have them taken while he was at a missile launch site.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University and author of several books on the Kim dynasty, says that Mr. Kim and his daughter appear at those strange locations to demonstrate that he intends to keep leading despite economic issues, and perhaps also distract others’ attention from the pandemic, which North Korea is currently battling, by showing his family and implying that he is as good a father as well as a leader. Lim Eun-Jung, a professor at Kongju National University at South Korea says that “these appearances together are more likely to be signals to the North Korean public, creating an image of a brighter future for the younger generations.” Ahn Chan-il, a defector from north Korea who runs a research institute in Seoul, says that North Korean citizens are less interested in who rules them and more interested in who will make their lives better than Mr. Kim has.

The subject of Kim Jung-Un’s successor fascinates the public, especially since many doubt Mr. Kim’s health. Speculations have flown that he could be suffering from gout and diabetes, like his late father. Kim’s obvious smoking problem and there are pictures of him limping, leading to doubts about the leader’s health, and even speculations of gout and diabetes. However, since North Korea is very secretive, many rumors about Mr. Kim’s health are probably false. Mr. Kim has been in power for over 10 years and doesn’t seem to be planning to leave anytime soon.

North Korea is patriarchal, so Mr. Kim choosing his daughter to rule would be very strange. However, Mr. Kim himself was not a likely candidate when he was chosen. He was the youngest of three sons, but the one with the most domineering attitude. His father chosen him as his successor early on, but never revealed it to anyone outside of his innermost circle.

Many hadn’t even considered the possibility that Mr. Kim would rule one day. This caused widespread doubt on his ability to lead, and it took Mr. Kim years to gain the trust of the people, and Mr. Kim had to conduct several assassinations, such as that of his brother and uncle. By revealing a possible successor to the public early on, Kim may be trying to avoid the mistakes his father made. This can also be proven by the fact that Mr. Kim’s father was known for living with beautiful women, but never revealed them to the public. Mr. Kim, however, staged a public appearance with his wife very soon after his inauguration.

Ahn Chan-il, Lim Eun Jung, and other experts all agree that it may be too early to draw conclusions.