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SEOUL – North Korea’s “first daughter” suddenly seems to be everywhere. In November, she was traveling with her father, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to inspect ICBMs. She has performed twice this month at celebrations of a major Army anniversary.
The first daughter was further entrenched in the family cult on Tuesday when North Korea issued eight stamps commemorating the November missile launch – five of them featuring the Tweenager.
The importance given to a child of the ruling family is a major shift for North Korea. On the other hand, Kim Jong Un has broken out of the dictatorship shaped by his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, and his father Kim Jong Il. Kim Il Sung did not introduce his son to the public until Kim Jong Il was in his mid-20s, then spent a good quarter of a century promoting the heir to the ranks.
Although Kim Jong Il announced his son as the third generation of Kims to lead North Korea in 2009, the face of the successor was not revealed to the North Korean public until September of the following year. Kim Jong Un’s age – just 26 at the time – should be an issue in a society that clings to Confucian principles that honor elders (and patriarchy).
The third Kim had no such reservations. He has taken his middle school-aged daughter to important military events, fueling speculation that he is setting the stage for her to become the leader of the next generation.
Analysts say it’s too early to draw firm conclusions. But here’s what we know so far about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s increasingly well-known daughter.
Well, we don’t know exactly. Even if her face is seen in the North Korean state media, they do not publish the girl’s name. She has only been referred to as Kim Jong Un’s “beloved daughter” or “respected daughter”.
But it is widely believed that her name is Kim Ju Ae. The first source — and yes, it’s an unlikely one, but this is North Korea — is retired National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman, who said he held Kim’s daughter during a visit to Pyongyang in 2013.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un makes clearest sign daughter is heir apparent
“I held her baby Ju-ae and talked to Ms. Ri [Sol-Ju, Kim’s wife] as well as. He’s a good father and has a beautiful family,” Rodman told the Guardian after the trip.
The South Korean secret service has also identified the girl as Kim Ju Ae. The first syllable of her given name, Ju Ae, seems to come from her mother, Ri Sol Ju, who uses the Chinese character for “main” or “primary.” The second syllable, Ae, likely comes from the Chinese character for love, said Kwak Gil-seop, a former researcher at South Korea’s state-run Institute of National Security Strategy.
Uh, we don’t know either. But let’s say she was 1 when Rodman caught her in March 2013. She would do that now at 10, just before her 11th birthday.
South Korean lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum said the girl was around 10 years old after being informed by Seoul’s spy agency in November. Yoo quoted the agency as saying Ju Ae was “quite big and tall” for a girl her age.
According to South Korean intelligence, Ju Ae is said to be the second child of Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju. She is believed to have an older brother born in 2010 and a younger sibling born in 2017, gender unknown. But as with many things about North Korea, this is only best guess based on South Korean intelligence reports – which don’t always bear much relation to the facts – and analysts’ interpretation of Ri’s absence from the public eye.
If there is an older brother, that would raise the question: where is he? As the eldest and as a boy, he was to be heir to the throne according to Confucian hierarchies. But Kim Jong Il bucked this tradition when he named Kim Jong Un, his third son, as his successor.
Where does she go to school?
We don’t know either. Kim Jong Un and his siblings had private tutors while living in Pyongyang instead of going to school. But in order to give them an experience of “normal life”, Kim Jong Il sent his children to school in Switzerland for several years during their adolescence – all under false names. Kim Jong Un seems to be cutting off that option for his daughter by making her face known at such an early age.
Described as “the most popular” child in state media, Ju Ae appears to be very close to her father, with whom she has held hands and been in the spotlight at major events.
“Kim Jong Un’s extraordinary love for his daughter has long been famous among Pyongyang officials,” said Ryu Hyun-woo, North Korea’s former ambassador to Kuwait, who defected in 2019. He said the North Korean leader used to carry the daughter in his arms when she was young. Some of Kim’s helpers posed for photos with the little girl, according to Ryu, who said he saw such pictures.
North Korea’s leader bragged about his daughter. What could it mean?
In her first public appearance in November, Ju Ae was seen holding hands with her father in front of North Korea’s largest ballistic missile. Dressed in a white jacket and red shoes, the daughter appeared to be watching a rocket being launched into the sky. She was also seen shaking hands with a uniformed soldier against a background of applauding officers.
Since then, she has been in the spotlight at events celebrating the country’s military, which for decades served as the pillar of the Kim family’s dictatorial rule.
This month, the daughter was seen at the center of the first family during an army banquet full of senior military officials. Official photos of the event showed them in the center, a place of honor usually reserved for the leader himself. Most recently, she was greeted on the red carpet with her father at a large parade in Pyongyang to mark an army anniversary.
Analysts say the subsidiary is strategically placed to promote the importance of military development to North Korea’s future generations.
How important is the family line here?
North Korea’s Kims have claimed their right to rule the country for more than 70 years, saying they are the descendants of a sacred bloodline descended from Mount Paektu, a mountain on the Chinese border that holds mythical significance for Koreans.
When Kim Jong Un was announced as the third-generation successor, North Korean officials “were filled with deep emotion realizing that he would carry on the Mount Paektu bloodline in its purest form,” according to the state media report. Earlier this month, as Ju Ae and the First Family watched the parade from a balcony above Kim Il Sung Square, named after her great-grandfather, troops marching across the square chanted, “Defend the Paektu bloodline with our lives!” “
Kim Jong Un’s daughter seen for the first time – at a rocket launch site
The parade also featured a regiment of cavalry on white horses, a propaganda symbol used to glorify the Kim family’s strength and authority. The state television narrator identified one of the horses as belonging to the first daughter. “Stunningly handsome, the magnificent steed of Paektu leads the squadron, followed by the beloved daughter’s favorite horse as they lead the high-spirited parade,” said the narrator, describing the father’s and daughter’s horses, respectively.
Will she succeed her father?
The first daughter’s high-profile performances have fueled speculation that she is being groomed as Kim’s successor. Experts are divided on whether a woman could ever take the lead in such a male-dominated society.
Ryu, the former North Korean diplomat, said a female heir was “unimaginable” for the Kim dynasty because she would deviate from the three-generation patrilineal succession. South Korea’s unification ministry said this week it was premature to infer the young girl’s potential leadership abilities, but said “all possibilities are open” at this point.