North Korean state media has referred to Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's daughter using an honorific typically reserved for the country's leadership, which analysts say could suggest she's being groomed as her father's heir apparent.
The child, presumed to be named Ju Ae, was dubbed a "great person of guidance" in the Korean Central News Agency report on a commemoration ceremony for a new greenhouse complex on Friday.
If she someday ascends to the top spot, it will be the third hereditary transition since the death of North Korea's first supreme leader, Kim Il Sung, in 1994. He was replaced by son Kim Jong Il, who was succeeded upon his death in 2011 by Kim Jong Un.
Kim Ju Ae accompanied her father on the greenhouse visit in Kandong, the suburban county that houses the Kims' summer retreat.
"The great persons of guidance, together with cadres of the Party, the government, and the military, went round the complex," the report said.
It was the first time the term "hyangdo," Korean for "guidance," was used in reference to the younger Kim, whose first public appearance was at a missile launch in November 2022.
She has since been seen at her father's side at a number of military events, raising her profile and leading South Korea's spy chief Cho Tae-yong to call her Kim Jong Un's "most likely successor."
"This level of personal worship for Kim Ju Ae strongly suggests that she will succeed Kim Jong Un as the next leader of North Korea," Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute, told Agence France-Presse.
Other North Korea watchers have pointed out there are multiple potential reasons driving the reclusive country's messaging on Ju Ae.
"Kim has ostentatiously elevated the status of his daughter, having her accompany him to high-profile events in what looks like an apprenticeship role. The variety of her appearances has expanded, and the formality of protocol, language and attire for her has increased," Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Seoul's Ewha Womans University, told the Straits Times.
"Pyongyang's propaganda department could be planning decades ahead, but it's probably more focused on the current leader's brand image while putting up smokescreens to obfuscate power dynamics in North Korean politics," Easley added.
The younger Kim is believed to be about 11 years old. The name Ju Ae was first made public in 2013 when former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who considers Kim Jong Un a friend, said he had met her and Kim's wife Ri Sol Ju on a visit to North Korea.
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Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
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