Kim Jong Un Close To Selecting North Koreas Next Ruler | EUROtoday

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy company instructed lawmakers on Thursday that it believes the teenage daughter of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un is near being designated because the nation’s future chief as he strikes to increase the household dynasty to a fourth technology.

The evaluation by the National Intelligence Service comes as North Korea is making ready to carry its largest political convention later this month, the place Kim is anticipated to stipulate his main coverage targets for the subsequent 5 years and take steps to tighten his authoritarian grip.

In a closed-door briefing, NIS officers mentioned they’re intently monitoring whether or not Kim’s daughter — believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and round 13 years previous — seems with him earlier than 1000’s of delegates on the upcoming Workers’ Party Congress, mentioned lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the assembly.

First showing in public at a long-range missile take a look at in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has since accompanied her father to an rising variety of occasions, together with weapons exams, army parades and manufacturing facility openings. She traveled with him to Beijing final September for Kim’s first summit with Chinese chief Xi Jinping in six years on the sidelines of a World War II occasion.

Speculation about her political future intensified final month when she joined her mother and father on a New Year’s Day go to to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred household mausoleum displaying the embalmed our bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather, the nation’s first- and second-generation leaders. Some consultants noticed the go to because the clearest signal but that she’s positioned to be the inheritor to her 42-year-old father.

South Korean officers initially expressed doubt that she could possibly be chosen as a North Korean chief, citing the nation’s deeply conservative tradition and custom of male-dominated management. But her more and more outstanding appearances in state media have prompted a reassessment.

In its earlier evaluation of Kim Ju Ae’s standing in September, the NIS instructed lawmakers that Kim Jong Un’s resolution to carry her alongside on his journey to China was probably a part of an effort to construct a “narrative” probably paving the best way for her succession.

“In the past, (NIS) described Kim Ju Ae as being in the midst of ‘successor training.’ What was notable today is that they used the term ‘successor-designate stage,’ a shift that’s quite significant,” Lee mentioned.

According to Lee, the company cited her rising presence at high-profile army occasions, her inclusion within the household go to to Kumsusan, and indicators that Kim Jong Un was starting to hunt her enter on sure coverage issues.

Despite her elevated visibility in propaganda, North Korean state media have by no means revealed the title of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, solely referring to her as his “respected” or “most beloved” little one.

The perception that she is known as Kim Ju Ae is predicated on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, during which he recalled holding Kim Jong Un’s child daughter throughout a visit to Pyongyang in 2013. South Korean intelligence officers imagine she was born someday that yr.

In 2023, South Korea’s spy company instructed lawmakers that Kim Jong Un and his spouse additionally probably have an older son and a youthful third little one whose gender is unknown.

Since its basis in 1948, North Korea has been dominated by male members of the Kim household, starting with the nation’s founder Kim Il Sung and adopted by his son, Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Un was simply 26 when he was formally named inheritor throughout a 2010 occasion convention, two years after Kim Jong Il suffered a debilitating stroke. Following his father’s loss of life in December 2011, he was abruptly thrust into the throne with comparatively little preparation.

Some analysts recommend that Kim Jong Un’s resolution to debut his daughter early probably displays his personal expertise of being rushed into energy.

Kim Ju Ae’s first recognized go to to Kumsusan final month was additionally her father’s first go to to the positioning in three years. Given the palace’s standing as a key image of the Kim household rule, the journey ought to be seen as a symbolic gesture by Kim Jong Un to current his daughter as his inheritor earlier than his grandfather and father as he prepares for the most important ruling occasion congress, mentioned Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.

The Workers’ Party congress in late February, final held in 2016 and 2021, might present a stage for Kim Jong Un to formalize his succession plans, probably by giving his daughter the occasion’s first secretary publish, its No. 2 job, though such a call may not be instantly disclosed to the skin world, Cheong mentioned.

Other analysts query whether or not she would obtain such a high-profile publish or any formal occasion position, provided that occasion guidelines require members to be at the very least 18.

If Kim Jong Un does use the occasion congress to cement his daughter as successor, the indicators could be extra delicate, mentioned Koh Yu-hwan, former president of South Korea’s Institute of National Unification.

For instance, the occasion might challenge self-praise about how North Korea has survived longer than most different Communist states and credit score that to how the nation established a “successful inheritance of the revolution,” he mentioned.

“If you see comments like that, it would be reasonable to think that Ju Ae has been cemented,” as inheritor, Koh mentioned.