Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, fires a sniper rifle in this image released Feb. 27 by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Korean Central News Agency
Kim Ju-ae, the daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been appearing with increasing frequency in state media.
As of March, she had already appeared in 13 North Korean state media photos, surpassing her total number of public appearances in 2024. Wearing a leather jacket strikingly similar to her father’s, Ju-ae was recently seen firing a sniper rifle and sitting atop a tank.
According to Hankook Ilbo’s analysis of Korean Central News Agency reports, the number of public appearances so far this year already approaches 80 percent of her average annual exposure over the past four years.
She appeared twice in 2022, the year of her public debut. That number rose to 18 in 2023, before falling to 13 in 2024 and rising again to 17 in 2025. Given those relatively even numbers, this year already stands out.
Although the National Intelligence Service noted in its recent report to the National Assembly that Ju-ae is undergoing preparation to become a successor, the exact succession scenario remains unclear. Experts still remain divided over how to read state media images of her, with some seeing them as evidence that her successor status is being solidified and others viewing them as part of a broader effort to promote the regime.
Still, few dispute that the symbolic weight of the leader’s daughter is growing.
In the left photo, Kim Ju-ae attends the 75th anniversary military parade marking the Korean People’s Army Foundation Day in 2023, while in the right photo, she is seated alongside her father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at a New Year's celebration in January 2025. Korean Central News Agency
Signs of a fourth-generation succession
Jang Cheol-young, a former Blue House photographer, said the way Ju-ae is framed in state media photographs suggests the regime is preparing for a succession.
Source: Korea Times News
