After a Chinese political activist and chairman of the China Democracy Party, Wanjun Xie, made claims about Kim Jong Un’s alleged passing in October, questions emerged about who could take control of North Korea if its leader were no longer in power.
Attention has increasingly turned to his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, who is believed to be just 13.
Highlights
- North Korean escapee Kim Yumi said she left the country with her husband because they did not want their children growing up under another generation of Kim family rule.
- South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reportedly believes Kim Ju Ae has entered the stage of being designated as her father’s successor.
- Former diplomats and defectors remain divided over whether the country’s male-dominated political system would accept a female leader.
As she continued to appear alongside her father at major state events, a North Korean escapee shared what people inside the country may really think about her growing public role.
"At 13 I couldn't be trusted with the TV remote. She's apparently getting the whole country," one person wrote.
A North Korean escapee revealed why she fled the country as Kim Ju Ae’s role grew
Kim Yumi, a 32-year-old North Korean escapee now living in Seoul, said she and her husband decided to leave their homeland because they did not want their children to grow up under another generation of the Kim family’s rule.
“As parents, we thought the best thing we could do for our children was to give them freedom," she said.
Yumi fled North Korea in May 2023.
She told the Associated Press that she became increasingly concerned that Kim Jong Un was preparing his daughter to continue the family's dictatorship.
The Kim family has ruled North Korea for three generations. Kim Jong Un inherited power from his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011. His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founded the country and established the family's rule.
Kim Ju Ae's growing visibility has raised questions about whether the family is preparing to pass power to another generation.
Although North Korea has not officially announced her as the next leader, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in February 2026 that it believed she had entered the stage of being designated as her father's successor.
Yumi further claimed North Koreans notice the privileges Kim Ju Ae enjoys
Yumi also said ordinary North Koreans may view the teenager's growing public presence differently.
She said some people are unhappy about seeing Ju Ae wearing clothes and hairstyles that would not be acceptable for ordinary girls her age.
The teenager has frequently appeared in public with long hair, high heels, and expensive-looking outfits. She has also been photographed wearing designer-style clothing while attending major events with her father.
According to Yumi, ordinary North Koreans do not enjoy the same freedom to dress as they wish. However, people are unlikely to openly criticize the leader's daughter because of the risk of punishment.
"People would now think Ju Ae would become their monarch," she said.
Another North Korean escapee, Lee, who runs the Seoul-based Free North Korea Radio station, offered a different view. She believes years of strict government control have shaped how people see the ruling family.
"They wouldn't know whether her clothes are designer brands, but they think she can wear them because she's the daughter [of the supreme leader]," Lee said.
A former North Korean diplomat alleged officials are already treating Kim Ju Ae like an heir
Tae Yongho, a former North Korean diplomat who worked at the country’s embassy in London before defecting to South Korea in 2016, believes preparations for Ju Ae’s possible succession are already underway.
"During her visits to missile launch sites and factories, the way senior North Korean officials treat Kim Ju Ae involves protocols reserved for a successor, not the ones simply for a daughter of Kim Jong Un," Yongho told the outlet.
He also compared how officials treat her to how they behaved around her father as he prepared to take power.
"They are repeating the same protocol and treatment they provided for Kim Jong Un," he added.
Yongho strongly criticized the possibility of another Kim taking control of the country.
"It's a wretched reality that unchecked power in an absolute monarchy is being passed down to a fourth generation in the 21st century," he said.
He also warned that another hereditary transfer of power could leave North Korea even further behind the rest of the world.
Kim Ju Ae has appeared at several major events, including missile sites
Ju Ae first appeared on North Korea's state television in 2022. She was shown standing beside her father while inspecting the country’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile.
Since then, she has appeared at several high-profile events, including military ceremonies, missile launches, factory visits, and warship-related events.
Earlier in 2026, she was also seen alongside Kim Jong Un during sea trials of a new warship.
Her growing presence has led many observers to believe that her father is preparing her for a much bigger role in the country.
In September 2025, she accompanied him to Beijing for China's major military parade. It was reportedly her first known trip abroad. Images showed her stepping off her father's armored train at Beijing Railway Station.
Her appearances have also attracted attention because of how North Korean state media presents her.
In the country, official media photographs can carry strong political messages. Ju Ae has increasingly appeared beside her father rather than behind him, and some images have shown the two standing at similar heights.
South Korean lawmakers said in February 2026 that the NIS had noticed signs that she was beginning to express opinions on certain state policies.
Lawmakers also reported that the agency believed she had moved beyond being trained for a possible future role.
"She has now entered the stage of being designated as successor," lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen said while explaining the intelligence agency's assessment, per BBC.
However, North Korea has not publicly confirmed that she will inherit power.
Despite the growing signs of Ju Ae's importance, not everyone believes North Korea would accept a female leader
The country has a deeply male-dominated political system, and several defectors have questioned whether its ruling elite would support a woman taking control.
Lee, a North Korean defector and lawyer who runs a website providing outside information to people in the country, said the idea remained difficult to accept.
"Even South Korea is a very patriarchal society where women find it difficult to hold leadership roles. I can't buy the idea of a woman becoming leader in North Korea, which is virtually a dynasty," he said, per ABC News.
However, North Korea does have a powerful female figure within its leadership.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister, holds a senior position in the Workers' Party of Korea and is widely believed to influence her brother.
Other analysts have warned against dismissing Ju Ae's chances simply because she is a girl.
Oh, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification, said that if she were formally named as the successor, members of the ruling elite could quickly unite behind her.
"Whether the successor is a male or female doesn't really matter," he said.
"I hope she has a better hairstyle than him," wrote one netizen
