Kim Jong-un made a rare appearance outside of North Korea but his young daughter stole the show after she was spotted behind her dad – the teen could be in line to take over from her dad
Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to attend a Chinese military parade in 66 years but his teen daughter was the true surprise guest.
Pictures showed the North Korean dictator step out of an armoured train in Beijing but his smartly dressed daughter walking behind him stole watchers’ attention. Kim Ju Ae is not usually seen in public and her existence was a mystery until a famous basketball star let it slip, back in 2013. Her appearance on Tuesday could be a sign to suggest she is being lined up to become North Korea’s next leader – as Kim keeps the women in his family particularly close.
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Kim Ju Ae, understood to be the dictator’s second eldest child, is believed to be a teenager, with the South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimating she was either 10 or 11 years old in 2023 – possibly making her 12 or 13 now.
She has recently become the “respected” daughter in her country. This term is reserved for North Korea’s most venerated figures, suggesting how important she has become to Kim’s strict and barbaric regime.
The teen’s existence was discovered when former NBA star, and odd friend of Jong-un, Dennis Rodman publicly revealed the dictator had more than one child. Rodman visited Pyongyang in 2013 and afterwards said he enjoyed meeting the daughter and Kim’s wife.
At the time, the basketball star told The Guardian: “I held their baby Ju Ae and spoke with (Kim’s wife) as well.” The daughter made her first public appearance in November 2022, at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Just a few months later, the young girl was being featured on postage stamps in North Korea and even attending high level banquets. She was also seen at anther major military event in 2023.
After the 2023 parade, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, Leif-Eric Easley, told CNN: “By ostentatiously including his wife and daughter, Kim wants observers at home and abroad to see his family dynasty and the North Korean military as irrevocably linked.”
The expect however also said Kims appearance with Ju Ae could also be a way to show himself off as a good father to the public.
The young girl was seen on Tuesday with her hair up in a neat half-updo, similar to her mum Ri Sol-ju, but she has also been known to wear it in a ponytail.
On the few public appearances the daughter has made, she is often seen wearing a leather jacket – which is also her dads favourite piece of clothing.
South Korean intelligence officials have gathered some more information on the powerful daughter and claim she enjoys horse riding, skiing and swimming. These authorities also claim the girl was home-schooled in Pyongyang.
Kim Ju Ae is the dictator’s only publicly known child, but it is thought he and his wife also have two other children.