As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un exited his armoured green train in Beijing on Tuesday after being met by Chinese officials who shook his hand and led him down a red carpet, many onlookers saw a young girl wearing black with her hair put in a bow, smiling pleasantly, following behind him.
She is believed to be the mysterious daughter of Kim, Kim Ju Ae. Over the years, she has made many public appearances, primarily at military-related events, which has led to speculations about the reason for her being in Beijing and whether Kim is training his successor.
China’s WWII military parade on Wednesday is of huge significance for Kim’s daughter her father along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders watched as Chinese President Xi Jinping flaunted his country’s military might.
However, the little girl was nowhere to be seen when Kim walked the red carpet in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday in preparation for Xi’s military parade.
After years of speculations, Kim’s daughter’s first public appearance in 2022 verified her existence, but very little is known about her.
When American basketball player Dennis Rodman visited Pyongyang in 2013, he disclosed that Kim had a child named Ju Ae. He later told The Guardian, “I held their baby Ju Ae and spoke with (Kim’s wife) as well.”
Her exact age and birth year are unknown; it is believed that she is currently a preteen or early teen, however this is mostly based on Rodman’s testimony. It’s also unclear how many months old she was when he first met the family.
In 2022, Kim’s daughter joined her father to witness the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch. In 2023, she made several public appearances, primarily at military events, including a military parade in Pyongyang, when she looked out at lines of ICBMs.
Her attendance at these ceremonies, according to experts at the time, gave a strong message that the Kim clan remained at the core of North Korea’s military might and that the country would not give up its weapons, particularly its nuclear program.
After the 2023 parade, Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha University, said, “By ostentatiously including his wife and daughter, Kim wants observers at home and abroad to see his family dynasty and the North Korean military as irrevocably linked.”
Since it was founded in 1948, North Korea has been governed by Kim Il Sung as a hereditary dictatorship. After his father passed away in 1994, his son, Kim Jong Il, assumed leadership, and 17 years later, Kim Jong Un succeeded him.
Considering the importance of the family dynasty, analysts had differing views on whether Kim’s daughter could be prepared as a successor after her public debut.
Some have suggested that she may have special status because of the way she is portrayed in North Korean state media, where she is called “beloved” and “respected.” According to experts, exposing her to military events at a young age may help her develop the trust and respect of the 1.3 million members of the armed forces while also preparing her for the realities of leading them.
Others, however, express skepticism, stating that they have long thought Kim’s other two children will be selected as his successor.
Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Centre and director of the center’s Korea Program, in a 2024 interview with CNN, said that her public visits might possibly be a public relations strategy to promote Kim as a “fatherly” figure and a “family man.”
Since Rodman had already made her existence known to the public, she noted that it would make more sense for Kim to use his daughter rather than his sons for that purpose. In contrast, even less is known about her siblings, who may still grow up out of the spotlight.
Kim, for example, studied in Switzerland in the 1990s, but Town claimed that his daughter is “too well-known now, she’ll never be able to study overseas.”