North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared alongside his wife and daughter at the country’s most sacred mausoleum on New Year’s Day, marking the first time his child, Ju Ae, has been shown paying respects to past leaders in a highly symbolic public setting.
State media photographs released on Friday showed Ju Ae standing between her parents inside the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, where the embalmed bodies of state founder Kim Il Sung and former leader Kim Jong Il lie in state. Analysts say the appearance adds to growing signs that Kim’s daughter is being gradually introduced to the public as part of the regime’s long term dynastic narrative.
The visit came at a time when Ju Ae has been featured more prominently in official coverage, drawing attention from foreign governments and regional experts who closely track leadership signals in the secretive country.
Ju Ae has appeared regularly in state media over the past three years, attending weapons tests, national celebrations, and key political events. South Korea’s intelligence agency and several analysts believe these appearances suggest she may be groomed as a future leader, potentially becoming the fourth generation of the Kim family to rule North Korea.
Cheong Seong chang, vice president of the Sejong Institute, described the mausoleum visit as a calculated decision by Kim Jong Un. He said Ju Ae’s presence at Kumsusan could be designed to strengthen her public profile ahead of an upcoming Workers’ Party congress, where long term leadership narratives are often reinforced, according to Reuters.
Photographs published by the Korean Central News Agency showed Kim Jong Un, his wife Ri Sol Ju, and Ju Ae accompanied by senior officials during the January 1 ceremony. The images placed Ju Ae at the center of the family grouping, a detail analysts say is unlikely to be accidental.
Visits to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun are among the most politically significant rituals in North Korea. Kim Jong Un traditionally attends on major anniversaries to underline the legitimacy of his rule and his direct lineage to the country’s founding leaders.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said recent imagery suggests Pyongyang is emphasizing the idea of a stable ruling family. Showing Kim with both his wife and daughter at major events reinforces continuity and control, he said, according to comments cited by regional media.
Ju Ae, believed to have been born in the early 2010s, also attended New Year celebrations this year and traveled with her father to Beijing in September, marking her first publicly reported overseas trip.
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Despite the symbolism, South Korea’s government has urged restraint in drawing conclusions. A spokesperson for the Unification Ministry declined to comment directly on Ju Ae’s appearance, saying it was too early to identify her as a successor because she holds no official position and is still very young.
Hong Min echoed that caution, noting uncertainty about the roles of Kim Jong Un’s other children. “It is practically impossible to publicly designate Kim Ju Ae as a successor at her age, especially when she is not eligible to join the ruling party,” he said.
North Korea has never confirmed Ju Ae’s age, and Pyongyang has made no formal statements about succession planning. For now, analysts say her growing visibility remains a signal worth watching rather than a definitive announcement.
