North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Ju Ae, joined her parents on her first public visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, paying respects to former leaders in a highly symbolic appearance.
State media photographs published on Friday, January 2nd, showed Ju Ae standing between Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, during the New Year’s Day visit to the mausoleum where Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie in state. The outing marked Ju Ae’s first appearance at the site, traditionally used by North Korean leaders to reinforce the country’s dynastic continuity.
Ju Ae has featured more prominently in official coverage over the past three years, prompting analysts and South Korea’s intelligence agency to suggest she may be groomed as a successor. Experts said her presence at Kumsusan appeared carefully timed, with a ruling Workers’ Party congress approaching at which succession issues could be discussed.
While Pyongyang has never confirmed Ju Ae’s age or status, she is believed to have been born in the early 2010s and has already attended major domestic events and made her first overseas appearance in Beijing last year.
South Korean officials cautioned it was too early to draw firm conclusions, noting that Ju Ae holds no formal position and that Kim’s other children remain absent from public view.
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