Key clue Kim Jong-un’s daughter will become North Korea’s next feared tyrant hidden in snaps with dictator dad
BORN and bred to likely take over his despotic reign over North Korea – Kim Jong-un’s Gucci-loving daughter is becoming a spitting image of her father.
A series of pictures reveals how the tubby tyrant, 40, is priming Kim Ju-ae, aged nine of ten, in the art of the statement leather coat, designer sunglasses and looking good while behaving badly.
Like father, like daughter – recent footage shows how Ju-ae is wearing identical outfits to her father on public outings.
The twinned clothes provide a striking clue that Kim is signally his oldest daughter out for succession.
Home-schooled, horse-loving, ski-obsessed Ju-ae first appeared on the scene at the end of 2022, walking hand in hand with her father to gleefully watch a ballistic missile test.
It seemed to many observers that Kim was placing the crown upon the head of his once secretive child. From then on, she quickly began appearing out and about with him more.
The tightly-controlled state-run media, who had never even hinted at her existence before, suddenly declared her as his “most beloved child”.
In December, Kim and Ju-ae watched an air force display together in matching oversized leather trench coats and huge Gucci sunglasses.
They posed moodily together for photographers – but it revealed another hidden clue.
Ju-ae was standing in front of the despot, partially obscuring the camera’s view of his left side.
A report in South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo said this was “unprecedented”.
It said: “Ju-ae has appeared in many photos in the state media and always appeared either next to or behind her father, but in this picture she is the main character.
“It is unprecedented in the status-obsessed North to publish a photo with Kim Jong-un in the background.”
In February, 2023 Kim brought his daughter to work – to mark 75 years since his country’s army was founded.
The young possible heiress joined him for a banquet for military officials in a surprisingly similar outfit – black suit, white shirt, pale tie.
According to insider reports, she’s been dubbed the “Morning Star General” and has now gone from being a “beloved” child to a “respected” child.
In January, South Korea’s spy agency acknowledged for the first time that Ju-ae is likely to be Kim’s heir.
The National Security Office, however, said it was still considering “all possibilities” in the succession plan.
“Based on a comprehensive analysis of public activities and the level of respect for Kim Ju Ae since her initial public appearance, at present, she appears to be the most likely successor,” said the NIS.
However, analysts believe the public appearances are less a public display of paternal love and more a means to settle the internal war raging in the Kim household.
The dictator’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, and his powerful, warmongering sister, Kim Yo-jong, are rumoured to be feuding over power.
For years, Yo-jang has been widely believed to take over control of North Korea – but Kim’s recent appearances with his daughter now suggest otherwise.
Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, believes it all sends a striking message.
He said: “It is highly significant and represents a certain degree of comfort on Kim Jong-un’s part that he would bring her out in public in such fashion.
“What we are seeing is Kim telecasting that fourth-generation hereditary succession is highly likely to happen.”
“This is intended to communicate it to the wider North Korean elite as well as to foreign governments.”
If Kim Ju-ae ascends to power, she would become the fourth member of the dynasty to lead the country and the first female leader in the country’s history.
Inside the only hereditary communist state in the world, it is both unprecedented for an heir to be announced before they are an adult.
And in a fiercely patriarchal society, it seems unlikely a woman would be allowed to rule.
However, Kim seems to be throwing caution to the wind and riling up his wife and sister by taking the young girl to speeches, military parades, weapons displays and factory inspections.
Some analysts have speculated that introducing Miss Kim to the public so early on could be a way to overcome prejudices towards a female leader.
How many kids does Kim Jong-un have?
NOT a lot is truly known about the children of North Korea's tyrannical leader.
Before his oldest daughter, Ju-ae, suddenly stepped into the public eye at the end of 2022, information on Kim’s kids was largely just speculation.
South Korea’s spy agency reckons that Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju have three children together.
Ju-ae, aged nine or ten, is believed to the middle child.
Reports suggest she has an older brother, born in 2010, and a younger sister, born in 2017.
But very little is known or spoken of them.
North Koreans knew nothing about the families of Kim’s father Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the founding president of the pariah state.
Kim himself was not even introduced to the public until he was officially announced as heir.