Closing Up to this point:
A vitality fight is seemingly between the 13-365 days-dilapidated daughter of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, Kim Ju Ae, and his ruthless sister, Kim Yo-jong
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North Korea might per chance well well also simply face a succession fight between Kim Jong Un’s 13-365 days-dilapidated daughter, Kim Ju Ae, and his necessary sister, Kim Yo-jong. Ju Ae’s rising profile suggests she’s the seemingly heir, however consultants warn of a probable vitality fight throughout the Kim dynasty.
(From left) Kim Jong Un, his daughter and sister. (AP File)
A novel season of succession drama is loading, no longer on any streaming platform however in North Korea.
The seemingly faceoff is between the 13-365 days-dilapidated daughter and heir apparent of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, Kim Ju Ae, and his ruthless sister, Kim Yo-jong.
Who guidelines North Korea?
Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been dominated by male contributors of the Kim family, starting up with the nation’s founder Kim Il Sung and followed by his son, Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Un was once factual 26 when he was once formally named heir for the length of a 2010 procure together convention, two years after Kim Jong Il suffered a debilitating stroke. Following his father’s loss of life in December 2011, he was once rapidly thrust into the throne with reasonably puny preparation.
Some analysts counsel that Kim Jong Un’s resolution to debut his daughter early per chance reflects his own ride of being rushed into vitality.
Successor determined?
South Korea’s witness agency told lawmakers on Thursday that it believes the teenage daughter of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un is shut to being designated because the nation’s future chief as he strikes to develop the family dynasty to a fourth technology. The review by the Nationwide Intelligence Carrier comes as North Korea is making ready to support its ultimate political convention later this month, where Kim is expected to stipulate his significant coverage aims for the next 5 years and rob steps to tighten his authoritarian grip, in step with an AP story.
In a closed-door briefing, NIS officers stated they’re closely monitoring whether Kim’s daughter looks with him sooner than thousands of delegates on the upcoming Workers’ Occasion Congress, stated lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the assembly.
South Korean officers had to starting up with expressed doubt that she shall be chosen as a North Korean chief, citing the nation’s deeply conservative tradition and tradition of male-dominated leadership. However her an increasing number of prominent appearances in issue media regain prompted a reassessment.
Who is Kim Ju Ae?
First showing in public at an extended-range missile test in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has since accompanied her father to an increasing change of events, including weapons assessments, navy parades and manufacturing facility openings. She travelled with him to Beijing closing September for Kim’s first summit with Chinese chief Xi Jinping in six years on the sidelines of a World Battle II tournament.
Speculation about her political future intensified closing month when she joined her fogeys on a New Year’s Day talk over with to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred family mausoleum showing the embalmed our bodies of her lifeless grandfather and exceptional-grandfather, the nation’s first- and second-technology leaders. Some consultants saw the controversy over with because the clearest impress but that she’s positioned to be the heir to her 42-365 days-dilapidated father.
“Within the past, (NIS) described Kim Ju Ae as being within the course of ‘successor coaching.’ What was once well-known on the new time is that they susceptible the time length ‘successor-designate stage,’ a shift that’s moderately necessary,” Lee said.
According to Lee, the agency cited her growing presence at high-profile military events, her inclusion in the family visit to Kumsusan, and signs that Kim Jong Un was beginning to seek her input on certain policy matters.
Despite her increased visibility in propaganda, North Korean state media have never published the name of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, only referring to her as his “respected” or “most cherished” child.
The belief that she is named Kim Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, in which he recalled holding Kim Jong Un’s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013. South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born sometime that year.
In 2023, South Korea’s witness agency told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un and his wife also seemingly regain an older son and a younger third puny one whose gender is unknown.
Who is Kim Yo-jong?
Kim Yo-jong is a high-ranking North Korean politician and the younger sister of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Often described as the second most powerful person in North Korea, she serves as a key advisor to her brother and a primary architect of the regime’s public image and foreign policy.
She is the Deputy Department Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). In this role, she manages her brother’s public persona and state “idolisation projects”.
Since September 2021, she has been a member of the Relate Affairs Commission (SAC): , North Korea’s top possible executive physique. She generally points legit statements in her own title, on the total the mutter of aggressive and vitriolic rhetoric to denounce South Korea and the US. In 2023, she was once famously dubbed “the most terrible girl on this planet” in a biography by scholar Sung-Yoon Lee.
In 2018 Winter Olympics, she made a historic visit to Pyeongchang, South Korea, becoming the first member of the ruling Kim dynasty to cross the border since the Korean War.
She accompanied Kim Jong Un to major diplomatic meetings, including the 2018 and 2019 summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and the 2023 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She is the youngest child of former leader Kim Jong Il and his consort Ko Yong-hui. Like her brother, she reportedly studied at public schools in Bern, Switzerland, under a pseudonym (“Pak Mi-hyang”) within the lifeless Nineties sooner than earning a computer science level from Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang.
She is believed to be married to Choe Music, the son of high-rating legit Choe Ryong-hae, and is reported to regain two formative years.
As a consequence of her narrate descent from the “Paektu bloodline,” she is often considered a potential successor should her brother be incapacitated. However, recent state media focus on Kim Jong Un’s young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, has shifted some speculation toward a future intergenerational power struggle.
‘Power struggle probable’: The succession drama
Rah Jong-yil, the former South Korean ambassador to the UK and deputy director of Seoul’s intelligence service, told The Telegraph that Ju-ae could face opposition from Kim Yo-jong, her ambitious and ruthless aunt.
Yo-jong, 38, is said to be planning to seize power should the dictator die or be incapacitated. This does not bode well for Ju-ae in a dynasty that has never been shy about assassinating its political rivals, according to Jong-yil.
“It depends on the timing, but I believe if Kim Yo-jong believed that she had a chance of becoming the top leader then she would take it,” Jong-yil stated. “For her, there are no reasons to chorus from placing into end her own political project,” he said, adding that a power struggle “is probable”.
Two years after Kim took over from his father in December 2011, he had Jang Music-thaek, his uncle and mentor, arrested on prices of committing “anti-procure together, counter-revolutionary, factional acts”.
With AP inputs
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First Published:
February 15, 2026, 15:42 IST
News explainers Kim Jong Un’s 13-Year-Old Daughter Vs His Ruthless Sister: Succession Drama Loading In North Korea
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