Is Kim Ju Ae being groomed to succeed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un? Speculations arise after Beijing appearance

Kim Ju Ae, the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, made her first public overseas outing in Beijing on Tuesday. The debut appearance had fueled speculations that she might be his potential successor in the family's dynastic rule over the country.

As Kim Jong Un greeted senior Chinese officials, Ju Ae stood right behind her father in photos released by the North Korean state media. Observers say that the setup was a clear acknowledgement and signal that she is likely being groomed to be the fourth-generation successor in the country that was founded by her great-great-grandfather, Kim Il-sung, in 1948.

Ju Ae, who is likely in her early teens, was seen stepping off the armoured vehicle with her father in Beijing, where she greeted Cai Qi, President Xi Jinping’s chief of staff, along with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Her name and age were never publicly confirmed. According to South Korean intelligence officials, she was identified as Ju Ae by former American basketball player Dennis Rodman, after he spent time with the Kim family in 2013 and held her as a baby.

However, she has been seen with her father in public outings on numerous official occasions since her birth in North Korea. She was recently seen at the opening of the Wonsan Kalma, the resort on the country’s east coast. She was first seen accompanying the North Korean leader at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022.

Kim’s trip to China is also his first appearance at a multilateral diplomatic event since coming to power in 2011. He was there to attend China’s massive military parade staged to commemorate Japan's surrender at the end of World War two, Reuters reported.

Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the U.S.-based Stimson Centre, said, “Right now, Ju Ae is the frontrunner as the next supreme leader of North Korea. "She is getting practical protocol experience, which should serve her well as North Korea's next leader or a core elite," he added.

In 2024, South Korea’s intelligence agency said that Ju Ae was being prepared to take on leadership, although they never specified when and how that could happen.

Future leaders in North Korea usually hold several senior posts and work their way through the regime’s power structure to prepare to be the head of the state. It is unclear, however, how the ruling party officials and military elites in North Korea would react to a woman being elevated to the position of the supreme leader. It is reported that she has an older brother and another younger sibling who have not appeared in public, the Guardian reported. They have not made many public appearances, however, and very little is known about them.

Accordint o  Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies who spoek to Korea herald said, Ju ae appearnace is itself  “in effect, regarded as her debut as a successor,” ‘In North Korea, power succession has traditionally been consolidated not only through internal stabilization but also through external recognition from its key allies, China and Russia,” he said

Ju Ae had also previously joined hr father in other diplomatic activities this year, notably sitting at the Russian embassy in North Korea on May 8 for Russia’s Victory Day.

Rachel Minyoung Lee, another researcher with the Stimson Centre, said that "The scope of her public appearances certainly has expanded from military-related sites to political and economic events over the years."

It is still too early to conclude that she will be the future supreme leader of the country, according to Lee. Her public appearances could still help her broaden her horizons, Lee said how the North Korean media covers Ju Ae in China would give better insight, according to Lee.