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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's daughter has visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun for the first time, state media images revealed Friday, marking her most significant public appearance yet in what analysts interpret as preparation for eventual leadership of the nuclear-armed nation.
Kim Ju Ae accompanied her father to the vast mausoleum in downtown Pyongyang that houses the preserved remains of her grandfather Kim Jong Il and great-grandfather Kim Il Sung, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The facility serves as the final resting place for the men North Korean propaganda calls "eternal leaders."
The visit represents a major development in the young woman's increasingly prominent public role since her debut in 2022, when she attended an intercontinental ballistic missile launch with her father.
Images from the mausoleum visit showed Ju Ae positioned in the center of the front row during the ceremony, a placement typically reserved for Kim Jong Un himself. Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at Seoul's Sejong Institute who authored a book on the Kim leadership, said this arrangement carries particular significance.
The positioning could be "interpreted as reporting to the 'eternal leaders' Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that she is being presented as his successor," Cheong said.
He added that he expects Ju Ae to soon be "formally confirmed as the next successor both domestically and internationally."
South Korea's intelligence agency assessed last year that Ju Ae is now understood to be next in line to rule North Korea after she accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing.
State media have increasingly used honorific language when referring to Ju Ae, calling her "the beloved child" and "a great person of guidance"—the term "hyangdo" in Korean is typically reserved for top leaders and their potential successors.
Some analysts suggest she could be elected First Secretary of the Central Committee, the second most powerful position in the ruling party, at a landmark congress expected in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, footage showed JuAe at New Year celebrations in Pyongyang, where she placed one hand on her father's face and kissed him on the cheek in a rare public display of affection that generated significant attention in South Korea. First lady Ri Sol Ju maintained a low profile during the same event.
The Kim family has maintained absolute control over North Korea for decades, with a cult of personality surrounding their "Paektu bloodline" dominating daily life in the isolated country. Kim Jong Un became the third generation to rule what analysts describe as the world's only communist monarchy, following his father and grandfather.
Before 2022, the only public confirmation of Ju Ae's existence came from former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who mentioned meeting her during a 2013 visit to North Korea.
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