Kim Ju-ae, the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has now become a "great person with leadership", signaling a further advancement in the hermit country's power structure.
In both the English and Korean versions, the official news agency KCNA used the honorific title in the plural in the dispatch that reported the father and daughter's visit to a greenhouse cultivation facility.
"Great person with a leadership role" is a formula usually reserved for the most experienced and prestigious leaders, with the potential role of successor: although never officially identified as Ju-ae by the North's media, Kim's young daughter has been described in her new role for the first time, in line with what has long been supported by Seoul's intelligence, according to which the girl is in fact the heir of the respected marshal.
"The top leaders, together with cadres from the party, government and army, toured the facility," reads the English-language text.
The North Korean term 'hyangdo' - meaning leadership - is typically reserved only for "top leaders or successors".
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Kim Jong-un, grandson of the 'eternal president' and founder of the hermit state Kim Il-sung and son of the 'dear leader' Kim Jong-un, represents the third generation of the Kim family in power for over 70 years: he married Ri Sol -ju in 2009, while Ju-ae may be the second daughter, first presented by Pyongyang's state media in 2022 when she accompanied her father in the launch operations of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
She has since been seen at many of the leader's civil and military engagements, including visits to a chicken farm and an arms factory.
In a photo released today, Ju-ae used binoculars to observe yesterday's paratrooper maneuvers, standing next to her father and senior military officials.
Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, visiting the North in 2013: he said he had seen a little daughter called Ju-ae, showered with attention and "love and from the affection of the father".
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