Expert sure: Kim Jong-un builds daughter as successor
Created: 01/06/2023, 2:30 p.m
By: Johannes Skiba
A woman has never ruled as a dictator in isolated North Korea.
That could change with the next change of power.
Pyongyang – North Korea's ruler Kim Jong-un, like his father and grandfather before him, rules the fate of North Korea as a dictator.
In the past, Kim Jong-un's ancestors Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung remained in power until their deaths.
However, even after the death of the North Korean heads of state, the former heads of state retain their titles.
Accordingly, Kim Il-sung is still the "Eternal President" and Kim Jong-il is also currently the "Eternal Chairman".
The dictators settled their successors long before their deaths.
Even the current "Supreme Leader" Kim Jong-un already seems to be concerned about the time after his death.
As the
New York Times
reports, his successor will be his daughter Kim Ju-ae.
Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju-ae during a missile test.
© North Korea/imago
Kim Jong-un sets up daughter as successor
Only recently were photos of North Korea's dictator and his daughter published for the press for the first time.
According to South Korean researcher Cheong Seong-chang, this staging is no coincidence: "The photos are likely part of a carefully crafted program intended to show the North Koreans that Kim Ju-ae will be the successor."
If this assumption proves true, North Korea would have a woman as dictator for the first time in the future.
In North Korean media, Kim Ju-ae is referred to as her father's "dearest daughter".
According to South Korean intelligence, she is around ten years old and one of three children who may be involved.
Apparently, Kim Ju-ae even has an older brother, which basically makes the choice of the daughter as his successor a sensation.
Family trip to the rocket test
However, it will probably be decades before Kim Ju-ae can succeed her father.
There will be no improvement in diplomatic relations with the isolated country, even with Kim Jong-un's heiress.
In the photos that were recently published, the daughter can be seen with her father during a missile test.
North Korea's orientation will hardly change in the future.
North Korea is currently on the verge of a successful nuclear weapons test.
(jsk)