In early January this year, South Korea's spy agency said the young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was seen as her father's heir apparent. She had only been introduced to the world about a year before that, but now appears poised to challenge the extremely male-dominated nature of North Korea's power hierarchy.
Despite the fact that simple details like her name and age continue to prove elusive, there has been intense speculation about her since she made her first public appearance in November 2022, when she watched a long-range missile test launch with her father.
In recent times, her position has become increasingly solidified, especially after she accompanied her father on his high-profile China trip, his own first visit to a major gathering of world leaders and her first known trip abroad.
Video and images carried by North Korean state media showed her right behind her father and ahead of Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui as they got off a train in Beijing, clapping as officials at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing bowed to her father, and standing near him as he was seated with senior officials in a meeting room inside his train.
South Korea's spy agency assessed on 11 September that the trip solidified her status as her father's likely heir.
What do we know about her?
Likely in her early teens and bearing a close resemblance to her mother, the daughter of the North Korea leader is believed to be 12 or 13 years old.
Her name has been reported widely as Kim Ju Ae, but state media has only referred to her with flowery titles, calling her Kim Jong Un's "most beloved" or "respected" child.
The belief that she is named Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA champion Dennis Rodman, who recalled holding Kim Jong Un's baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013.
Kim Jong Un has recently expanded his daughter's public appearances beyond military events to include some of his most ambitious economic projects and cultural events, including the opening of a beach resort in June.
In a closed-door briefing for lawmakers, the South Korean National Intelligence Service said Kim Jong Un was believed to have brought his daughter to China to help her acquire overseas experience and cement her status as his likely heir, according to lawmaker Park Sunwon, who attended the meeting.
Who else could take the reins?
South Korean media previously speculated Kim has three children — born in 2010, 2013 and 2017 — and that the first child is a son while the third is a daughter.
North Korea has made no mention of Kim's two other children. But speculation that his eldest child is a son has led some experts to question how a daughter can be Kim's successor given the deeply male-dominated, patriarchal nature of North Korean society.
Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family — Kim's father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Un inherited power in late 2011 upon his father's death.
However, considering that Kim is still young, has no major health issues, and has at least one other child, there is no certainty about the line of succession. Kim turns 40 on Monday.
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