Experts believe a new male family member, who has been spotted in public for the first time, could be the sucessor of Kim Jong-un – who is rumoured to have more secret children
Two more of Kim Jong-un’s family members have been revealed to the public – raising suspicions that one will eventually succeed the North Korean leader.
Pictured at a New Year’s Eve party in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un’s niece and nephew stepped out in the public eye as they walked hand-in-hand through the city with their mum, Kim Yo-jong. Kim Jong-un’s own daughter, Kim Ju-ae, has already accompanied her father at public events for the last few years, joining him for the first time at an inspection of a major intercontinental ballistic missile launch in 2022.
But North Korea is yet to have a female leader, leading experts to theorise that the nephew, who is now the only known male of his generation, could be next leader of the totalitarian state. Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, believes the role will only go to someone from the bloodline of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung.
He said: “With this event we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Kim Yo-jong has a son. This means she has produced a legitimate male heir to the Mount Paektu revolutionary leadership of Kim Il-sung. We don’t if Kim Jong-un actually has a son and there is no credible available intelligence to establish that he does.
“But Kim Yo-jong has a son who, given his family lineage, is certainly a credible candidate for hereditary succession in North Korea. It belies perceptions that Kim Ju-ae is hereditary successor.’ He added: ‘With a regime and state media environment like North Korea, we only see what they let us see.”
Kim Jong-un has already been rumoured to have two more secret children, including a son, who have never been seen in public. A South Korea media outlet, NK News, meanwhile theorised the two children pictured at New Year’s Eve party may have been the mystery children of Kim Jong-un, but admitted this was “less likely”.
But Mr Madden believes Kim Ju-ae is still the likeliest successor to her father. He said: “I still think Kim Ju-ae is the front runner and there is most certainly space for a female leader of North Korea. But with Kim Yo-jong’s children we have at least two more individuals who will become top elites and are future senior officials in the North Korean regime. So the regime is signalling that these are future North Korean elites.”
He added that the move to bring the neice and nephew out may have been to send a message to the next US president, Donald Trump. He said: “In 2018, Kim Jong-un told former South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, that he was a husband and father, and would not do anything to bring nuclear destruction to the Korean peninsula.
“So, by bringing her own children to a public event, Kim Yo-jong may be subtly reiterating that point to external observers – including the Trump administration in the US and the next leadership in South Korea. In a general context, bringing out her children is part of normalising the North Korean regime.
“In this way, it becomes less opaque, less mysterious, and relatively transparent, and it reduces the median perception in the world that North Korean political culture is quixotic and weird. Kim Yo-jong is one of the leading drivers and advisers in this long-term process of making North Korea a more traditional authoritarian regime.”
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said they are working to verify the relationship between Kim Yo-jong and the two children. It said in a statement: “We are conducting a detailed analysis while keeping the possibility open.”