South Korea’s spy service has claimed recent photos of Kim Jong-un’s daughter released by the North Korean regime point to her being his favoured successor.
The photos in question show Kim taking his daughter to three public events in recent months: a missile launch site, a photo session with weapons developers and a tour of a missile facility.
North Korean media describes Ju Ae — who is estimated to be either nine or 10 years old — as his “most beloved child”.
Her possible succession would mark the rogue state’s fourth hereditary Supreme Leader after Kim Il-sung founded the controversial nation in 1948.
Ankit Panda, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said publicised images of Ju Ae “would support the idea that this is the start of her being positioned as a potential successor”.
“Both of her initial public appearances have been in the context of strategic nuclear weapons – the crown jewels of North Korea‘s national defence capabilities. That doesn’t strike me as coincidental,” Panda said via Sky News.
South Korean news outlets previously reported that Kim has three children — born in 2010, 2013 and 2017.
“We’ve been told that Kim has three children, including possibly a son,” security analyst Soo Kim said.
“If this is true, and if we assume that the male child – who has yet to be revealed – will be the heir, is Ju Ae truly Kim’s most ‘precious,’ from a succession standpoint?
“I think it is too early to draw any conclusions.”
The speculation came after South Korea’s military confirmed a North Korean drone had breached the key no-fly zone around the presidential office.
Military tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year as the North conducted sanctions-busting weapons tests nearly every month, including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile ever.
Pyongyang sent five drones across the border into South Korean airspace on December 26, the first such incident in five years, prompting Seoul to scramble jets to respond.
South Korea’s military had already apologised after failing to shoot down any of the drones, despite a five-hour operation, which it blamed on the drones being “too small”.
It had also repeatedly denied reports the drones had infiltrated the key no-fly zone, known as P-73, that includes the skies over the South Korean presidential office.
“It is not true that (the North Korean drone) did not pass over Yongsan,” Lee Sung-jun, a spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday, referring to the area where the presidential office and defence ministry are located.
A military official said an investigation had found that “the trail of a small drone of the enemy” had passed through the northern end of the no-fly zone.
“We make it clear that there is no problem with the safety of the Yongsan office,” the official said.
South Korea’s military said last week the North “could not have obtained meaningful information” with its drone incursion because of what it described as Pyongyang’s low technology level.
But Seoul’s spy agency told politicians Thursday “it is possible” that the North Korean drone took photos of the South Korean presidential office, Rep. Youn Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party told reporters.
“It is worrisome that Yongsan, where South Korea’s top security control facilities are located, was infiltrated in the height of tension between the two Koreas,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
