North Korea leader firming up status of daughter as successor, Seoul spy agency says

Just being on the overseas trip with her father is "enough to build a narrative" as the regime's likely successor, a lawmaker says

Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova walks alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as they attend a performance in Pyongyang, North Korea, Jun 29, 2025. REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have solidified the status of his daughter Kim Ju Ae as his likely successor after she accompanied him on a visit to China, South Korean lawmakers said on Thursday, citing the country's spy agency.

Ju Ae stayed at the North Korean embassy and avoided the public spotlight during the Beijing visit, but just being on the overseas trip with her father was "enough to build a narrative" as the regime's likely successor, said Lee Seong-kweun, a lawmaker on South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee.

"It was suggested that Kim Ju Ae's status was solidified as a likely successor by showing her occasionally, while enabling her to build overseas experience but not to appear at public events," said Park Sun-won, another lawmaker on the committee.

Also, North Korean officials were spotted wiping out traces in order not to expose the biological information of Kim and his daughter during the China trip. This included using a special plane to transport garbage and the pair staying at the North Korean embassy, South Korea's spy agency told the lawmakers.

Earlier this month, Kim made an unprecedented trip to Beijing for a large-scale multilateral gathering, watching a military parade standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kim also held bilateral meetings with Xi and Putin on the sidelines in a bid to portray an image that North Korea was no longer an isolated country and was trying to restore relations with China, the South Korean lawmakers said.

The South Korean intelligence agency believed that economic ties between Beijing and Pyongyang would inevitably expand following the meeting between Xi and Kim, most likely through unofficial trade, according to the lawmakers.