Home > National > North Korea

North Korean leader's daughter takes center stage in New Year's appearance, fueling succession speculation

Published: 02 Jan. 2026, 10:37 Updated: 02 Jan. 2026, 14:36

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left in the front row, is accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae, center, and his wife Ri Sol-ju, in a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with senior government and military officials on Jan. 1, 2026, as seen in this photo released by the state-run Rodong Sinmun on Jan. 2, 2026. [RODONG SINMUN]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared in public with his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, during a new year visit to the country’s most symbolic mausoleum, marking her first known appearance at the site, state media showed Friday.

Ju-ae was at the very center of the procession, a positioning interpreted as a potential signal regarding succession, with analysts suggesting it may also be intended to gauge domestic and international reactions.

Kim Jong-un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on Thursday, accompanied by senior officials from the ruling party and government, members of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Cabinet officials and military commanders, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

State media did not explicitly mention Ju-ae’s attendance, but photographs released by North Korean outlets showed Kim Jong-un, his wife Ri Sol-ju and their daughter standing at the front of the procession. Ju-ae stood in the center, with Kim Jong-un, the country’s top leader, pictured on her left and his wife on her right.

The mausoleum houses the embalmed bodies of North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong-il and serves as a key symbol of the regime’s legitimacy. It was Kim Ju-ae’s first visit to the palace since she made her public debut at the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile launch site in November 2022. This was also Kim Jong-un’s first New Year’s Day visit to the palace since 2023, and he ceded the central position in the procession to his daughter for the first time in three years.

After taking power in 2012, Kim Jong-un made the visit to the mausoleum almost every New Year’s Day but skipped it in 2018, 2024 and 2025.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seen being kissed on the cheek by his daugher Kim Ju-ae during a New Year's celebration at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on Jan. 1. [YONHAP]

A day earlier, footage aired by North Korean state media showed Ju-ae stepping out first from her father's limousine at a New Year’s celebration venue. She was seen holding his hand, whispering to him and later kissed his cheek as the countdown to the New Year ended.

The back-to-back release of affectionate moments between father and daughter over two days has fueled speculation that Pyongyang is deliberately highlighting Kim Ju-ae’s elevated status.

With the Workers’ Party’s Ninth Congress scheduled for early this year, some observers believe North Korea is seeking to solidify Ju-ae’s position in the succession line.

"Kim Ju-ae is being presented not merely as the child of a leader but as a successor of the revolutionary legacy of her forebears,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies. “This may be a prelude to assigning her an official title at the Ninth Party Congress.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and his daugher Kim Ju-ae, center, are seen during a visit to an air force unit in December 2023. [RODONG SINMUN]

However, this is not the first time Ju-ae has appeared at the center of a photograph released by the North Korean media. In February 2023, at an event marking the founding of the Korean People's Army, she was seated between Kim Jong-un and Ri at the head table.

In December of the same year, a photo showed her standing ahead of Kim Jong-un during a visit to an air force unit.

Still, North Korean media made no explicit mention of Ju-ae’s participation in the palace visit, instead stating only that “participants pledged unwavering unity under the leadership and ideology of Comrade Kim Jong-un,” sticking to general remarks.

Some analysts argue that Kim Ju-ae’s central positioning in the visit may have less to do with succession and more to do with emphasizing Kim’s family-oriented leadership style and the so-called Paektu bloodline.

“The presence of the entire family, including Ri Sol-ju, suggests this is not about succession,” said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “If the intent was to signal a successor, the imagery would have been calculated to highlight the current leader’s authority and a hierarchical relationship with the successor.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, is seen with his duaghter Kim Ju-ae, center, during an event marking the founding of the Korean People's Army on Feb. 8, 2023. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]

“If Kim Ju-ae had already been named a mature successor, Kim Jong-un would have been placed at the center instead,” said Yang Moo-jin, a distinguished professor at the University of North Korean Studies. “Given the absence of any direct mention of Kim Ju-ae in the media, the emphasis seems to be on family and messaging for future generations, rather than a formal succession plan.”

Nevertheless, many experts believe that Ju-ae’s continued prominence reflects North Korea’s long-term plan to extend the Paektu bloodline into a fourth generation.

As Ju-ae is female and reportedly only 14 years old — born in 2012 — the regime may be testing the waters to assess internal and external responses before taking further steps.

Separately, KCNA said Kim Jong-un later met students scheduled to take part in a New Year's performance and posed for commemorative photographs with them.

The report said Kim Jong-un highlighted the importance of younger generations as the country’s future, describing their energy and discipline as a driving force for North Korea’s development.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK HYUN-JU, JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]