Unlikely that Kim Jong Un's daughter groomed as successor: South Korea

North Korea: North Korea disclosed Kim Ju Ae in November by announcing she watched an intercontinental ballistic missile test with her father. She's since made four other public appearances, including last week’s military parade.

South Korea on Wednesday said that it’s still premature to determine whether the recently unveiled daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is being groomed as her father’s successor.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his wife Ri Sol Ju and their daughter Kim Ju Ae attend a military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea's army.(via REUTERS)

Speculation about the status of Kim's daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about 10, has further intensified since she recently took center stage at a massive military parade in Pyongyang and appeared in soon-to-be-released postal stamps — both events with her all-powerful father.

During a parliamentary committee meeting in Seoul, Unification Minister Kwon Youngse, South Korea’s top official on North Korea, questioned a belief that she’s being primed as the North’s next leader. Kwon cited Kim Jong Un’s relatively young age – Kim turned to 39 last month – and North Korea’s male-dominated power hierarchy.

“There are views that (her appearances) are aimed at talking about a hereditary power transition. But considering Kim Jong Un’s age and the fact that North Korea has a much more patriarchal nature than ours, there are also lots of questions about whether North Korea having a woman (prepared to) inherit power now is indeed right,” Kwon told lawmakers.

Kwon said the girl’s repeated appearances in recent months were more likely meant to shore up public support of Kim’s ruling family and prepare for a future hereditary power transfer.

South Korean media have speculated Kim Jong Un also has a son who is older than Kim Ju Ae and a third child, likely a daughter. But Kwon said only Kim Ju Ae is her father’s officially confirmed child.

North Korea disclosed Kim Ju Ae in November by announcing she watched an intercontinental ballistic missile test with her father. She's since made four other public appearances, including last week’s military parade.

State media have called her Kim’s “most beloved” or “respected” child and published a slew of photos and video showing her closeness with her father. She was seen touching Kim’s cheek at an observation stand for the military parade and sitting in the seat of honor at an earlier banquet while being flanked by her parents and generals, in what observers say had been unimaginable in North Korea because Kim is the subject of a personality cult that treats him like a god.

Designs released by North Korea’s state-run Korea Stamp Corporation earlier this week also show Kim Ju Ae being featured in five of eight new stamps that are set to be circulated from Friday to celebrate the November flight test of the Hwasong-17 ICBM, an event she attended. The stamps carried previously publicised images showing the girl holding her father’s hand as they walked near the missile and posing for photos with her father in front of a wall of clapping soldiers days after the Hwasong-17 launch.