In North Korea, where a dictatorial system has been built based on hermeticism, blood heritage and the cult of lineage, every small gesture is interpreted as a message loaded with symbolism. During the first days of 2026, the same message was broadcast several times: the presence of Ju-ae, there beloved daughter The country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, has gone from a carefully measured and empathetic exception to a regular element in the scene of power.
The official KCNA news agency released the youngest and most recent photographs of the North Korean president accompanied by a teenager – which tracked external estimates around the 13th year – in different official acts. The sequences correspond to the end of year celebrations and the New Year’s visit to the Palacio del Sol in Kumsusan, where the bodies of the founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Il-sung, and his father and successor, Kim Jong-il, the priest of the current leader, are embalmed.
Although Ju-ae has attended end-of-year events before, this is the first time the young woman has paid tribute to her ancestors in public. The mausoleum is one of the regime’s most sacred places, where the power of the Kim dynasty is enshrined as eternal. After assuming the role of head of state in 2012, Kim had made this tribute a ritual every year, to ensure continuity at the start of each political exercise, although he had omitted it in 2024 and 2025 (previously, he had only done so in 2018).
In the KCNA text, Ju-ae’s presence is not explicitly mentioned, but in some images published by the same media, the smaller one appears located in the center of the frame, with his father and mother, Ri Sol-ju, in his right hand.
Cheong Seong-chang, vice president of the Sejong Institute study center, said it could be a calculated move by Kim toward the ninth congress of the Workers’ Party, scheduled for early this year and intended to establish new state priorities and reorganize its leadership.
In statements collected by several agencies, Cheong does not rule out that Kim, aged 41, entrusts his daughter with the role of first secretary during this five-year period, which would catapult her to this position. number of within the party hierarchy. Other analysts, however, believe that he is too young to take on such a prestigious role. Ju-ae, of course, does not take into account the minimum age for access to training, set according to its statutes at 18 years old. However, this coincides with the fact that he could assume some official position during the congress.
Little is known about Ju-ae and it is hypothetical. The first published image of her was in November 2022, when she accompanied her priest for the inspection of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile before its launch. On that occasion, state media referred to her as Kim’s “beloved daughter”, and since then she has been described with adjectives such as “respected” or “dear”, and even as hyangdoterm that could be translated as “leader’s guide” and which is normally reserved for representatives or their successors, according to experts. But his name or age has never been confirmed.
Before 2022, the first to refer to the girl was NBA exjugator Dennis Rodman. The eccentric sportsman made sure in 2013, following one of his trips to the most hermetic country on the planet, holding in his arms a baby named Ju-ae, the daughter of Kim Jong-un. Some deserters subsequently validated this name and it is the identity that manages the Korean intelligence services. This is believed to be the average of three brothers aged approximately 16, 13 and 9 years old. The existence of other children is based on a Korean analysis, since Pyongyang has never informed the composition of the family and has never seen other minors.
However, for three years and especially in the second half of 2025, it has appeared more and more prominently in the official media, which has fueled speculation about its future. He attended several inspections, missile launches and inauguration events, and also accompanied the North Korean leader to Beijing last September, to attend the parade celebrated in the Chinese capital to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
In statements then collected by the Korean agency Yonhapanalyst Cheong assured that it was an “important sign to the international community that he is his possible successor” and that the trip constituted “an opportunity to begin his diplomatic training”.
In recent images from the end-of-year gala, the girl appears holding her father’s hand, in a show of complicity, giving him a kiss on the back in the past to receive 2026. In her official appearances, Ju-ae suele wears formal clothes and tacos and has a carefully groomed hairstyle, which is why she conveys a more adult image of what a person of your age should expect.
North Korean leaders have never openly announced to the people who would succeed them. The transitions were signaled gradually, thanks to greater public visibility and the gradual attribution of political and symbolic responsibilities. Kim Jong-il has been promoting from within since the 1970s and gained weight throughout the 1980s. After Kim Il-sung’s death in 1994, North Korea entered a prolonged period of mourning during which his son assumed power. Actually. His leadership was consolidated and formalized in 1997, once again strengthening his control over the Party, Army and state.
For his part, Kim Jong-un began to appear more visibly alongside his priest from 2009, first as a companion in military inspections and key acts, then by accessing important positions. The confirmation that he would be the new solo leader follows the December 2011 death of Kim Jong-il.
In 2024, South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency suggested that Ju-ae could be his successor, a hypothesis which, if confirmed, would make her the first woman on the North Korean front since its founding in 1948. Several analysts have long interpreted that Ju-ae’s recurring presence was also with her mother constructing the image of a “stable family”, a visual resource that brings the regime closer to an image similar to that of a monarchy.
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