It was the first time North Korea had mentioned Kim Jong-un’s daughter, although state media did not provide her name or age, calling her only Kim’s “beloved daughter.”
While the child’s name was not revealed, observers believe her name is Kim Joo-ae. Retired NBA star Dennis Rodman, who first revealed her name in 2013, said after a visit to North Korea that he met the leader’s “precious” daughter.
According to Shreyas Reddy, a reporter for North Korea monitoring website NK News, it was the first time state media had mentioned Kim Jong-un’s children. South Korean intelligence agencies believe the North Korean leader has two other children, born in 2010 and 2017, but whose names and genders are not known.
“Her first public appearance at such a young age is significant in itself and a break with tradition, but even more remarkable is the fact that she was introduced to the country and the wider world at an event as important as a North Korean missile launch .the largest missile,” Reddy told the Post. “While we can say this is definitely an important moment, at this early stage we cannot be sure what the purpose was.”
“Some prominent North Korean defectors have told us that this clearly marks her as Kim Jong Un’s successor, a dramatic change in Pyongyang’s largely male-dominated leadership and a break with the Kim family’s patriarchal rule,” he said. He added that others saw the move as an attempt to provide a more human face to the North Korean leader.
Kim Jong-un has been in power for 11 years and is the third generation of a family that has ruled the secretive country since his grandfather Kim Il-sung founded it in 1948.
There are few confirmed details about the current leader’s private life. Speculation about a potential successor began in 2020 when Kim was rumored to be seriously ill, although South Korean officials cast doubt on the reports, citing a lack of evidence. He re-emerged in the public eye the following year looking slimmer than ever, raising further questions about the reasons for his sudden weight loss.
Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, has also played an important role in public life.