North Korea’s Kim Jong Un debuts daughter – and potential successor – to the world

When North Korea‘s leader Kim Jong Un stepped off his armored train in Beijing to attend celebrations marking 80 years since the end of WWII in Asia, his young daughter Kim Ju Ae surprised the cameras as she appeared then followed alongside him. Believed to be 12 or 13 years old and referred to as “beloved child” in North Korean state media, this was her first known trip outside the country.

To casual observers, Kim Ju Ae’s appearance Tuesday might be seen as a father-daughter bonding trip. But her arrival in China could be more than that: Kim Jong Un‘s signal that she is in the mix for future succession plans.

“Because when North Korea finalizes their successor process, they are used to bringing this successor to China,” said Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University and director of the Institute of Unification Studies in Seoul. “Showing them is kind of their tradition.”

Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, brought him to Beijing to present him as a successor when he was believed to be in his mid-20s. Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder, did the same for his son Kim Jong Il. The intent was to begin building the next political relationship with Beijing for the future.

In recent years, Kim Ju Ae has appeared with her father at major public events inside North Korea. 

One challenge, however, is that Kim Ju Ae is female, and North Korea is a patriarchal society.

“We are not 100% because Kim Ju Ae is simply a 13-year-old girl and not an adult at all. So it’s too early to say that she’s (absolutely) going to be the next successor,” said Park, “and Kim Ju Ae doesn’t have any kind of military experience.”

As for Kim Jong Un’s trip itself, his visit to Beijing is a huge political win on the world stage with his choreographed proximity to China’s President Xi Jinping as proof. The two walked stride-by-stride before China’s spectacle of a parade then sat side-by-side, and front-and center, over Tiananmen Square as Chinese troops goose-stepped and as new Chinese military hardware rolled down the Avenue of Eternal Peace.

Xi could have picked any leader of the more than two dozen who traveled in for the commemoration — including Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Myanmar’s military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. But it was Kim on his left, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on his right. And these optics were designed to send a message of unity — and against Washington and the proverbial West.

“It’s definitely Kim Jong Un’s political victory,” said Park. Xi “picked Kim Jong Un as the top role and then he is showing his affection to North Korean Kim Jong Un to the world.”

Kim’s biggest win, says Park, is the “normalized relationship between North Korea and China” after six years of no face-to-face contact. “And it will help North Korea in future discussion or dialog with President Trump. I think there is a possibility that Trump would try to meet Kim Jong Un again.”