KIM JONG YOUNG

Kim Jong Un’s Daughter, 13, Fuels Succession Rumors With Major Public Event

The portly North Korean dictator is looking for a fourth-generation successor.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has fueled speculation that he is grooming his teenage daughter to succeed him by taking her on a tour of his family mausoleum. Kim took Kim Ju Ae, who is believed to be 13, on a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Friday, where the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather are on display. Kim is the third dictator in the family; the Communist dynasty began in 1948 under Kim Il Sung, who ruled until he died in 1994, when his son Kim Il Jong took over until his death in 2011. The visit to the palace, considered to be a place “that symbolizes the legitimacy of the North Korean regime,” is the latest event the young girl has been spotted at since being introduced to the world in 2022. She has previously appeared alongside her father at military parades, missile launches, and on a state visit to China in September last year. Her early public profile breaks from the secrecy that shrouded her father and grandfather before their ascensions, leading observers to believe Kim Jong Un is deliberately grooming her to shore up the dynasty. Experts have speculated that Kim may even appoint his daughter to a major party post, potentially even the No. 2 position of first secretary, at the upcoming ruling Workers’ Party congress later this year, AP reported.