Kim Ju Ae Explained

Honorific Prefix:Respected Daughter
Kim Ju Ae
Birth Date: 2012 or 2013 (age โ€“)
Father:Kim Jong Un
Mother:Ri Sol Ju
Relatives:Kim family
Module:
Child:yes
Hangul:%๊น€์ฃผ์• 
Ipa:pronounced as /ko/

Kim Ju Ae (; born 2012 or 2013) is the daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju. The North Korean government has disclosed little information about her and much is unknown about her, including her birth date and name. The name "Ju Ae" was first mentioned by American basketball player Dennis Rodman after his visit to North Korea in 2013, but it has not been verified by either the North Korean government or South Korean intelligence. North Korean defectors interviewed by South Korean intelligence have claimed two alternate names for her: Un Ju and Ju Ye .

She made her first public appearance alongside her father at a missile launch in 2022. State media initially referred to her as Kim Jong Un's "beloved" and "precious" daughter before adopting the adjective "respected", which is typically reserved for the most honoured members of North Korean society, such as Kim Jong Un himself. Since her public debut, some analysts have speculated she is being trained as the heir apparent to lead North Korea,[1] while others point to different possible successors. She made her first public appearance abroad at the 2025 China Victory Day Parade in Beijing. The National Intelligence Service of South Korea stated in early 2026 that she had become the designated successor of her father.[2]

Early life

The North Korean government has not publicly disclosed Kim Ju Ae's birth date. Ri Sol Ju's lengthy absence from the public eye in 2012 was later attributed to her pregnancy with Kim Ju Ae.[3] South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimated in 2023 that she was 10 or 11 years old.[4] South Korean lawmaker Kim Byung-kee, citing "non-NIS sources", claims that she was born in 2013.[5] His colleague Yi Wan-yong, citing both the NIS and non-NIS sources, claims that Kim Ju Ae has an older brother born in 2010 and a younger sibling of unknown sex born in 2017. However, in a 2023 interview with Radio Free Asia, Joรฃo Micaelo, a personal acquaintance of Kim Jong Un, expressed doubts that the North Korean leader had ever fathered a son. Micaelo claims to have first met Kim Jong Un in 1998 while attending school together in Switzerland. When they met again in their adulthood, Micaelo claims that Kim Jong Un never mentioned a son, only the daughter he had been appearing in public with.[6] [7]

The North Korean government has also not publicly disclosed her name, and the NIS has not verified any claims on the matter from North Korean defectors.[8] North Korean media initially called her Kim Jong Un's "beloved" or "precious" daughter but soon began using the adjective "respected", which is typically reserved for the most honoured members of North Korean society.[9] [10] [11] For example, Kim Jong Un received the title of "respected comrade" shortly after becoming the country's supreme leader. In March 2024, Kim Ju Ae was officially referred to as a "great person of guidance", along with her father during a public event.[12]

The name "Ju Ae" was first mentioned by American basketball player Dennis Rodman in his account of a 2013 visit he made to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. When discussing Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju, Rodman described "[holding] their baby Ju Ae" and complimented Kim Jong Un as a "good dad" and an "awesome guy".[13] [14] However, Choe Su-yong, a former NIS intelligence officer, claims that Rodman misunderstood the Korean words (Korean: ์ €์• ), which mean "that girl", and that the child's actual name is Un Ju . Choe cited his North Korean informants as his source.[8]

On 4 November 2022, The Chosun Ilbo reported claims from an unnamed defector, a former military officer who claims to have escorted Kim Jong Un's eldest son and middle daughter overseas. He claimed that the daughter's name is indeed "Ju Ae", and that her elder brother is named "Ju Un", with "Ju" taken from their mother's name and "Un" taken from their father's. He further claimed that the Hanja spelling of the daughter's name is "Korean: ไธปๆ„›".[15] Meanwhile, North Korean diplomat, who defected to South Korea in 2023, claims that her name is Ju Ye and that North Korean citizens named Ju Ye were ordered to change their names.[16]

Public appearances

Kim Ju Ae appeared in public for the first time at the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on 18 November 2022.[17] The state-run Korean Central News Agency released photos of Kim Ju Ae and her father inspecting a Hwasong-17 missile together before its launch. Her public debut came amid worsening inter-Korean relations due to a record number of North Korean missile launches.[18] Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior analyst at the Open Nuclear Network in Vienna, Austria, suggests that the photos may have been intended to "bolster [Kim Jong Un's] image as the father of the people and the nation", and "highlight the necessity of nuclear weapons programmes for the security of future generations", with Ju Ae representing future generations. Kim Ju Ae subsequently made four more public appearances from late November 2022 to early February 2023.[19] On 14 February 2023, the state-run Korea Stamp Corporation unveiled postage stamps featuring Kim Ju Ae and Kim Jong Un at the 18 November missile launch.[20]

Kim Ju Ae joined her father at a number of official ceremonies and processions in 2023. She participated in official festivities with her father during that year's celebration of the Day of the Shining Star, the birth anniversary of her grandfather Kim Jong Il, on 16 February.[21] She appeared with her father once again on 9 September, at a parade marking the 75th anniversary of the foundation of North Korea.[22] At the end of the year, she attended New Year's Eve celebrations with her father at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang.[23]

Kim Ju Ae accompanied her father at a number of public events in 2024 and 2025 as well. She attended the celebration of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's 79th anniversary on 10 October 2024.[24] The following year, she attended the launch ceremony of the Choe Hyon destroyer on 25 April and the 80th celebration of Victory Day at the Russian embassy in Pyongyang on 9 May.[25] [26] On 2 September 2025, she accompanied her father to Beijing to attend a military parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of China's victory over Japan in World War II.[27] It was her first public appearance abroad.[28]

Succession

Kim Ju Ae's public prominence has led to speculation by North Korea analysts about her future position in the country. Richard Lloyd Parry of The Times suggests that it may be a response to rivalries within the North Korean government and an attempt to reassert the political supremacy of the Kim family.[29] Go Myong-hyun, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, likewise argues that Kim Ju Ae's public presentation is that of a princess and is an attempt by state media to normalise the Kim family's rule "by adopting the trappings of [a] European-style monarchy". A number of other analysts have speculated that she has been chosen as her father's successor as supreme leader, which could make her the first woman to serve in the top position.[30] [31] [32] This hypothesis was echoed by the NIS at the start of 2024, after the agency made its annual assessment of North Korea.

The NIS reported to members of South Korea's National Assembly in a closed-door meeting on 29 July 2024 that Kim Ju Ae was being trained to succeed her father as supreme leader.[33] [34] [35] [36] Park Jie-won, who served as the NIS' director from 2020 to 2022, dismissed the report's findings, noting that possible successors had previously been kept hidden from the public eye. He further argued that the North Korean government has historically been patriarchal, making Kim Ju Ae's ascension unlikely.[37] Park's comments were echoed by a number of North Korea analysts who further posited that Kim Ju Ae, being a child, was politically unproven, and so the decision to make her Kim Jong Un's successor would have been premature.[38]

In February 2026, the NIS reported to the National Assembly that Kim Ju Ae had completed her successor training and had been designated the successor to her father. They cited her attendance at military events, her increased involvement in policy decisions, and a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which is a symbol of the Kim family.[39] [40] [41] She was then reported to be appointed within the Korean People's Army's Missile Administration on 22 February 2026 by her father.[42]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Oelofse . Louis . Sinico . Sean . 2026-01-02 . Kim Jong Un's daughter visits mausoleum, fueling heir rumors . DW . 25 February 2026.
  2. Web site: 2026-02-26 . Kim Jong Un fuels succession buzz with daughter's matching leather jacket . 2026-02-26 . NBC News . en.
  3. News: Mark . Michelle . What we know about Kim Jong Un's 3 possible heirs . Business Insider . 16 December 2017 . 23 February 2026.
  4. News: Palmer . Elizabeth . Why is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's daughter suddenly front and center? . CBS News . 16 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230216163815/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-koera-kim-jong-un-daughter-ju-ae/ . 16 February 2023 . 18 October 2024.
  5. News: Lee . Taehoon . Griffiths . James . South Korea: Kim Jong Un's third child born in February . 20 October 2024 . CNN . 29 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171228200640/http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/asia/kim-jong-un-third-child/index.html . 28 December 2017.
  6. News: Sharma . Shweta . Kim Jong-un's friend from school says North Korean leader doesn't have a son . 26 October 2024 . . 26 May 2023.
  7. News: Park . Jae-woo . ko:๊น€์ •์€ ์Šค์œ„์Šค ์œ ํ•™ ์ ˆ์นœ '์•„๋“ค ์žˆ๋‹จ ์–˜๊ธฐ ๋ชป ๋“ค์–ด' . Kim Jong Un's close friend studying abroad in Switzerland: 'I haven't heard that he has a son' . https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/human_rights_defector/nkroyalfamily-05242023162650.html . . . 24 May 2023 . 26 October 2024 . ko.
  8. News: Kang . Hyun-kyung . North Korean leader's daughter known by wrong name: expert . . 16 November 2023 . 18 October 2024 . 2 December 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241202112940/https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/10/103_363320.html . live .
  9. News: Isozaki . Atsuhito . South Korea's Changing Position on Kim Jong Un's Daughter . 21 October 2024 . The Diplomat . 18 September 2024.
  10. News: Han . Do-hyeong . 9 February 2023 . ko:๊น€์ฃผ์•  '์กด๊ฒฝํ•˜๋Š” ์ž์ œ๋ถ„' ํ‘œํ˜„, ๊น€์ •์€ ์ธ๊ฐ„๋ฏธ ๊ฐ•์กฐ ์ˆ˜์ค€ ๋„˜์–ด์„  ๊ฒƒ . Kim Ju Ae's expression of 'respected daughter' goes beyond emphasising Kim Jong Un's humanity . 26 October 2024 . . ko.
  11. News: 9 February 2023. Kim Jong Un presenta a su hija y alimenta rumores sobre su sucesiรณn . Kim Jong Un introduces his daughter and feeds rumors about his succession . live . Spanish . . Barcelona, Spain. https://web.archive.org/web/20230210125344/https://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20230209/8745863/kim-jong-presenta-hija-alimentando-rumores-sobre-sucesion.html . 10 February 2023.
  12. News: Crisp . James . Kim Jong-un's daughter called a 'top leader' boosting succession status . . 16 March 2024 . 20 March 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241206045753/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/16/kim-jong-un-daughter-ju-ae-top-leader-succession-status/ . 6 December 2024.
  13. News: Walker . Peter . Dennis Rodman gives away name of Kim Jong-un's daughter . The Guardian . 9 September 2013 . 18 October 2024 . 0261-3077 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130909053855/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/dennis-rodman-north-korea-baby-name . 9 September 2013.
  14. News: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's wife makes first appearance in a year . BBC News . 17 February 2021 . 6 August 2021 . 15 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240515234338/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56093689 . live .
  15. News: Ahn . Yong-hyun . 4 November 2022 . ko:'ํ›„์‚ฌ' ์–ธ๊ธ‰ํ•œ ๊น€์ •์€, 4๋Œ€ ์„ธ์Šต ์‹œ๋™ ๊ฑฐ๋‚˜ . Kim Jong Un mentions 'successor', starts fourth generation of hereditary succession . 26 October 2024 . . ko . . 26 January 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250126101245/https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003726267?sid=110 . live .
  16. ko:"๊น€์ •์€ ๋”ธ, '์ฃผ์• ' ์•„๋‹Œ '์ฃผ์˜ˆ'... ์ฃผ๋ฏผ ๊ฐœ๋ช… ๊ถŒ๊ณ  ์žˆ์—ˆ๋‹ค" . Kim Jong Un's daughter is named 'Ju Ye', not 'Ju Ae'... North Korean citizens ordered to change their names . 4 September 2024 . YouTube . ko . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6VPJbm0Bgk . Seoul, South Korea . Channel A News.
  17. News: Yoon . John . Kim Jong-un Takes His Daughter to Missile Test Launch . The New York Times . 19 November 2022 . 9 February 2023 . 0362-4331 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221119064034/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/world/asia/kim-jong-un-daughter-missile-launch.html . 19 November 2022.
  18. News: Davies . Christian . Kang . Buseong . Kim adopts trappings of royalty as he presents 'princess' to North Korea . Financial Times . 3 December 2022 . 25 February 2023 . 17 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231117165438/https://www.ft.com/content/e61b7bf0-3bcb-4d71-a764-12167c1673fc . live .
  19. News: Mackenzie . Jean . Succession questions raised by presence of Kim's daughter . BBC News . 9 February 2023 . 20 October 2024 . 20 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240120094330/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64581465 . live .
  20. News: As North Korea unveils stamps of Kim's daughter, South doubts she is successor . . 16 February 2023 . 26 October 2024 . 29 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240329141039/https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3210337/north-korea-unveils-stamps-kims-daughter-south-says-shes-unlikely-be-successor . live .
  21. News: Yim . Hyunsu . 18 February 2023 . Kim Jong Un's daughter appears at sports event . 20 February 2023 . Reuters . 19 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231019184354/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korean-leader-kims-daughter-appears-sports-event-state-media-2023-02-18/ . live .
  22. News: Kim . Tong-hyung . Kim Jong Un hosts Chinese and Russian guests at a parade celebrating North Korea's 75th anniversary . 8 September 2023 . . ABC News . 11 October 2023 . 10 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231011084546/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kim-jong-hosts-chinese-russian-guests-parade-celebrating-103047873 . live .
  23. News: McCurry . Justin . Kim Ju-ae likely heir to North Korea's Kim Jong-un, says South's spy agency . 20 October 2024 . . 5 January 2024.
  24. News: Kim . Jack . North Korea's Kim lauds 'longest ruling party' on anniversary with Russian guests . 10 April 2025 . . 11 October 2024.
  25. News: Cho . Mun-gyu . North's Kim and daughter celebrate 80th anniversary of Russia's Victory Day at embassy in Pyongyang. . 9 May 2025 . 9 May 2025 . en.
  26. News: Kim Jong-un and daughter launch 'most powerful' warship. 9 May 2025 . . 27 April 2025.
  27. News: Atkinson . Emily . North Korea's Kim Jong Un arrives in Beijing with daughter to attend military parade . 2 September 2025 . . 2 September 2025.
  28. News: Smith . Josh . 'Front runner' to be North Korea's next supreme leader makes international debut in China. 3 September 2025 . . 2 September 2025.
  29. News: Lloyd Parry . Richard . Richard Lloyd Parry . Kim Jong-un 'signalling that daughter Ju Ae will succeed him' . . 27 January 2023 . 9 February 2023 . 0140-0460 . 15 September 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240915141233/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/who-is-kim-jong-un-daughter-children-ju-ae-north-korea-swq3q37z3 . live .
  30. News: Lloyd Parry . Richard . Richard Lloyd Parry . Kim Jong-un's daughter Ju-ae appears for North Korean military parade . 9 February 2023 . . 8 February 2023 . 0140-0460 . 15 September 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240915141512/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/kim-jong-un-daughter-ju-ae-north-korea-military-parade-8xwjpgfck . live .
  31. News: Rai . Arpan . Kim Jong-un gives strongest hint yet about his successor at key military event . 9 February 2023 . . 8 February 2023 . 9 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240109165748/https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/east-asia/kim-jong-un-daughter-successor-north-korea-b2278023.html . live .
  32. News: Lendon . Brad . Seo . Yoonjung . Kim Jong Un puts daughter front and center at lavish military banquet . 9 February 2023 . CNN . 8 February 2023 . 7 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230507081858/https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/asia/north-korea-kim-jong-un-daughter-banquet-intl-hnk/index.html . live .
  33. News: Kim . Hyung-Jin . Song . Jiwon . South Korea views the young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as his likely successor . 4 January 2024 . 26 October 2024 . . en . 27 September 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240927171033/https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-daughter-successor-ju-ae-8310af9bfb68ca352d3c9445da94b242 . live .
  34. News: Cho . Joohee . Lee . Hakyung Kate . North Korean leader trains daughter to become successor, says intelligence service . 20 October 2024 . ABC News . 1 August 2024 . en . 5 October 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241005095615/https://abcnews.go.com/International/north-korean-kim-jong-un-successor-daughter-kim-ju-ae/story?id=112434848 . live .
  35. News: Roush . Ty . Who Is Kim Ju Ae? Kim Jong Un's Daughter Will Likely Succeed Him As North Korea's Leader. . 4 January 2024 . 26 October 2024 . . en.
  36. News: North Korea: Kim's daughter being trained to succeed him . 29 July 2024 . 26 October 2024 . . en.
  37. News: Park . Chan-kyong . 31 July 2024 . Will Kim Ju-ae be future North Korea leader? South's ex-spy chief says no . 20 October 2024 . . en.
  38. Foster-Carter . Aidan . Kim Ju Ae is unlikely to ever reign as North Korea's queen . 21 October 2024 . Nikkei Asia . 7 August 2024 . en.
  39. Web site: Shin . Jee-in . 2026-02-12 . Breaking: NIS: Kim Ju-ae Enters Designation Phase as Successor . 2026-02-12 . The Chosun Daily . en.
  40. Web site: Kwon . Jake . February 12, 2026 . Kim Ju Ae: North Korea leader Kim Jong Un chooses daughter as heir, Seoul says . 2026-02-13 . BBC News . en-GB.
  41. Web site: Yeung . Jessie . Seo . Yoonjung . February 13, 2026 . Could this teenage girl be North Korea's next leader? . 2026-02-13 . CNN . en.
  42. Web site: North Korea Leader Elevates Teen Daughter to Missile Chief. 23 February 2026. Micah. McCartney. Newsweek. 2026-02-25.

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