N Korean leader's daughter fuels succession speculation with mausoleum visit

By Hieun SHIN
Seoul (AFP) Jan 2, 2026

The North Korean leader's daughter Kim Ju Ae has made her first public visit to a mausoleum housing her grandfather and great-grandfather, state media images showed Friday, further solidifying her place as likely next in line to run the nuclear-armed dictatorship.

The Kim family has ruled North Korea with an iron grip for decades, and a cult of personality surrounding their so-called "Paektu bloodline" dominates daily life in the isolated country.

Current leader Kim Jong Un is the third in line to rule in the world's only communist monarchy, following his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.

The two men -- dubbed "eternal leaders" in state propaganda -- are housed in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a vast mausoleum in downtown Pyongyang.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong Un had visited the palace, accompanied by top officials. Images released by the agency showed daughter Ju Ae alongside him.

South Korea's spy agency said last year she was now understood to be the next in line to rule North Korea after she accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing.

- 'Presented as Kim's successor' -

And Cheong Seong-chang at Seoul's Sejong Institute said he expected her to soon be "formally confirmed as the next successor both domestically and internationally".

Cheong, author of a book on the Kim leadership, said her placement in the centre of the front row during her visit to the place -- a place typically reserved for her father -- was especially notable.

It could be "interpreted as reporting to the 'eternal leaders' Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that she is being presented as his successor", he said.

Ju Ae was publicly introduced to the world in 2022 when she accompanied her father to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

North Korean state media have since referred to her as "the beloved child", and a "great person of guidance" -- "hyangdo" in Korean -- a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.

Before 2022, the only confirmation of her existence had come from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who made a visit to the North in 2013.

Analysts have suggested that she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in the North Korean ruling party, at a landmark congress due to be held in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, footage showed Ju Ae accompanying her parents at New Year celebrations in Pyongyang.

While first lady Ri Sol Ju kept a low profile, state TV showed Ju Ae placing one hand on the North Korean leader's face and kissing him on the cheek -- a rare public display of affection which drew headlines in South Korea.