North Korea

The arrival of Kim Jong Un in China for his first multilateral meeting would make titles.

But it was the smartly dressed girl behind him when he came out of her armored train, which caught the attention of Korea’s observers: Kim Ju Hey, the daughter of the North Korean leader.

According to South Korea spy agency, Miss Kim is her father’s most likely successor.

But the details – including its exact age – are thin on the ground. So what do we know?

Miss Kim for several years is believed to be the second by Kim Jong Un and his wife, three children of Ri Sol-Ju. The exact number and their command is by no means sure, but Kim is very secretive to his family, only presenting his wife to the public after being married for some time.

Kim Ju Ae is their only child whose existence has been confirmed by the country’s leadership. No other child was observed in public.

The news of her existence first appeared through an incredible source: the basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to the Guardian newspaper Back in 2013, he “kept their baby Ju” while traveling to the secret country.

At that time, she was heard about her until November 2022, when she appeared with her father at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

By February of next year, she appeared in postage stamps and visited senior employees – he described as the “respected” daughter of Kim Jong Un.

The adjective “respected” is reserved for the most respected in North Korea. In the case of her father, he was referred to as a “respected companion” only after his status as a future leader was cemented.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) provided some additional details about the girl at the same time, According to the AP news agency.

They said she enjoyed horseback riding, skiing and swimming and was home to the capital Pyongyang. They suggested that she was about 10 years old.

By January 2024, NIS came to another conclusion: that the girl was Kim Jong -un’s “most likely” heir – although they noted that there were “many variables” still playing, not least because of their father’s young age.

Since then, she has appeared on the part of her father repeatedly. Standing next to him when launching ICBM and military parades, she took the central scene and received military greetings from senior military commanders.

But Tuesday celebrated the first time she was seen outside North Korea and the trip would probably have extra fuel, she could inherit her father.

The Kim family, which has ruled North Korea since 1948, tells citizens that they are a native of a sacred bloodline, which means that only they can lead the country.

However, there is speculation that Kim introduced his daughter at this point in order to try to overcome prejudices in a deeply patriarchal state that has never been led by a woman.