The Tamesis
March 19, 2026
Seoul – South Korea’s spy agency said last month that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter Joo-ae appears to have entered the stage of grooming her successor — a startling assessment in a country long plagued by rigid patriarchy and entrenched gender inequality.
The National Intelligence Service’s latest assessment marks a shift from its previous description of Joo-ae as the “most likely successor,” suggesting Pyongyang may now be actively pushing to formalize her status.
Lawmakers briefed by the agency pointed to signs that the teenage daughter has begun to express her views on national policy and expand her public influence — developments that the NIS interpreted as part of a broader succession process.
The North Korean regime has recently attached great importance to the role of women. Kim Jong Un spoke on International Women’s Day for the first time this year, emphasizing the importance of women in the development of socialism, while Joo Ae appeared at the event with her parents for the first time.
Some analysts see this as part of a broader effort to normalize female leadership in advance, softening resistance within traditionally male-dominated systems.
“In a patriarchal society like North Korea, this kind of messaging is crucial,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam National University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies. “It sets the stage for the possibility of women inheriting power.”
Joo-ae’s increasingly elaborate public appearances – from attending major military anniversaries to visiting the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun – are also being closely watched by analysts. The most obvious shift, experts say, is not just her popularity but her image.
Lim said the recent photo of Joo Ae hugging citizens published by Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s leading domestic newspaper, was no accident. The photo was taken when Joo-ae accompanied her father and mother Ri Sol-ju to the completion ceremony of a Pyongyang housing project confirmed during the 8th Workers’ Party Congress in 2021.
“These scenes are meant to show that she is well-liked and recognized by the people,” Lin said. “It’s part of the process of building the narrative that the successor was elected by public opinion.”
Since her public appearance at the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile launch site in November 2022, Joo-ae has accompanied Kim Jong-un to a series of events, ranging from military and economic events to diplomatic and cultural-related events.
At the same time, Lam noted that her lack of political experience – which was inevitable given her age – seemed to be compensated for by an image that emphasized “loving the people” and emotional connections rather than by governance qualifications.
One of the most striking moments was the release of a photo of Zhu Ai aiming a rifle – an unusual and well-thought-out image in a system where authority is closely tied to military power. The Korean Central News Agency released this photo last week showing Kim Jong Un inspecting a local arms factory with his teenage daughter, where the two were seen test-firing a pistol.
Im interpreted the photo as an attempt to demonstrate strength and leadership, suggesting that she represented not only the future of the Kim family but also the future of the North Korean military.
“The message is clear: the country’s future defense and Ju-ae’s leadership are closely linked,” Lim said.
Despite the growing symbolism, many experts remain cautious.
Yang Moo-jin, a distinguished professor at the University of North Korean Studies, believes that despite the National Intelligence Service’s observations, there is little agency evidence to support the claim that Joo Ae has entered the formal designation stage.
Unlike her grandfather Kim Jong Il, who followed a clear line in party positions and official statements, Joo Ae currently holds no formal position within the Workers’ Party and there is no sign of a party congress decision to support her succession.
“Public appearances and protocol escalations alone are not enough to conclude that the successor has already been decided,” Yang said.
Others proposed a more traditional option: reportedly a younger son who, once politically mature, could follow the established pattern of male hereditary succession.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at Korea’s National Institute for National Unification, urged caution in interpreting Joo-ae’s rise, pointing to the broader family structure. “Kim Jong-un is believed to have three children, one of whom was born around 2010, Zhu Ae in 2013, and the third child in 2017, whose gender has not yet been officially confirmed,” he said, reflecting the assessment of South Korea’s intelligence agencies.
“Publicly naming a 13-year-old as your successor before joining the Workers’ Party is highly unrealistic and requires huge political resources,” Hong said. “From a traditional inheritance perspective, a male heir – if one existed – would represent a more natural and stable path.”
He added that this timeline also discourages early designation. “If confirmed, the younger son would be eligible to join the party in about a decade, while Kim Jong Un is still relatively young. That makes a delayed, more traditional succession plan entirely reasonable,” he said.
Beyond the inheritance issues, there are deeper structural realities. North Korea presents a paradox: Women are vital to the country’s survival—running households and informal markets—but remain structurally excluded from political power and subject to entrenched discrimination.
Researchers estimate that women are the primary breadwinners in 80 to 90 percent of households due to their dominance of the country’s informal market economy. However, this economic role has not yet translated into political influence.
According to UN Women, women hold only 17.6% of seats in the Supreme People’s Assembly and are largely absent from high levels of power. Even where legal equality is formally guaranteed, international assessments point to a persistent gap between rhetoric and reality, with women underrepresented in leadership and facing systemic constraints rooted in a deeply patriarchal social order.
There is another layer of uncertainty surrounding the role of Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s influential sister, who is known as one of the regime’s most experienced political manipulators. Kim Yo Jong was recently promoted to department head of the ruling party at the 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea last month.
Kyungnam University’s Lim said the biggest variable in any succession plan remains Kim Jong Un’s health.
“If an unexpected incident occurs, it is easy to imagine a power struggle between the unprepared Zhou Ae and the experienced Kim Yo-jong,” Lim said.
He noted that while Kim Joo-ae gained symbolic authority because of her status as part of the ruling “Paektusan lineage” (the hereditary lineage of the Kim family that underpins the regime’s legitimacy), her actual power base remained limited. In contrast, Kim Yo Jong has accumulated many years of governing experience, especially in North Korea-South Korea relations and foreign policy.
“If elite opinion within the leadership favors a proven figure rather than a child, Kim Yo Jong may have an advantage,” Lim said.
Still, most analysts think an outright power struggle is unlikely. The North Korean system derives its legitimacy from direct hereditary succession, the lineage from Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un.
Although Kim shares the same ancestry as Jong, she is considered part of a collateral line rather than a direct heir – a distinction that is influential in the regime’s political structure.
“Adjunct figures can serve as powerful assistants to current leaders, but they are often marginalized when power is transferred to the next generation,” Lin said.
Given Kim Jong Un’s tightly controlled leadership style, Lim said he was more likely to put in place mechanisms to ensure Kim Yo Jong acted as a guardian or regent figure, supporting Joo Ae rather than competing against her.
Kim Yo Jong herself may also find such an arrangement advantageous, retaining her influence as a powerful No. 2 while avoiding the risk of directly challenging the hereditary system.
Ultimately, if Joo-ae becomes the designated heir, the relationship between Joo-ae and her aunt may come down to timing.
“If Kim Jong Un remains in power long enough, Joo-ae will have time to mature and build her own political base,” Lim said. “But if she is absent early, her future will inevitably become more uncertain.”
