North Korea's Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as successor, says Seoul

SEOUL — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has selected his daughter as his successor, South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) said on Thursday.The North Korean leader appears to be taking steps to consolidate his daughter’s position, and there are signs she is providing input on policy matters, South Korean lawmakers said on Thursday, citing an NIS briefing.The South Korean spy agency will be closely watching whether the daughter, named Kim Ju Ae, attends an upcoming meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party and how she is presented, including whether she takes on any official title, the lawmakers said.Ju Ae, who is believed to be in her early teens, has been increasingly prominently featured in North Korea’s state media accompanying her father on field guidance including inspections of weapons projects amid speculation by analysts that she is being groomed as the country’s fourth-generation leader.The NIS said it took a “range of circumstances” into account including her increasingly prominent public presence at official events” in making this assessment.The NIS also said it would keep close tabs on whether she will attend the North’s party congress later this month — its largest political event that is held once every five years.The party Congress is where Pyongyang is expected to give more details about priorities like foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.On Thursday lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters that Ju Ae, who was previously described by the NIS as being “trained” to be a successor, was now at the stage of “successor designation”.”As Kim Ju Ae has shown her presence at various events, including the founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and signs have been detected of her voicing her opinion on certain state policies, the NIS believes she has now entered the stage of being designated as successor,” Lee said.Ju Ae is the only known child of Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju.News of Ju Ae’s existence first emerged through an unlikely source: the American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian newspaper back in 2013 that he “held baby Ju Ae” during a trip to the secretive state.Ju Ae , who is believed to be 13, made her first appearance on state television in 2022. She was shown inspecting North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile while holding her father’s hand. — Agencies