Kim Ju-ae, daughter of Kim Jong Un, visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the country's highest political sacred site, for the first time amid speculation that she is being groomed as the fourth-generation leader of the family.
Photos released by North Korean state media on Friday (2 Jan) local time showed Kim Ju-ae traveling with her father and mother, Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol-ju, paying respects to former national leaders at the family mausoleum, the "Kumsusan Palace of the Sun," on 1 January.
Images from KCNA show Kim Ju-ae standing between her father and mother in the main hall of the mausoleum, where the bodies of Kim Il-sung, the country's founder, and Kim Jong-il, the former supreme leader, are kept. Analysts see this positioning as a significant symbolic gesture within North Korea's political system.
Over the past three years, Kim Ju-ae has appeared increasingly in state media, prompting experts and South Korean intelligence to suggest she may be being prepared as Kim Jong Un's political heir.
Official media also reported that Kim Ju-ae, believed to have been born in the early 2010s, attended North Korea's New Year celebrations this year. In September, she traveled to Beijing with her father, marking her first public appearance abroad.
Traditionally, Kim Jong Un visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on important occasions to reaffirm the legitimacy of the leadership lineage, which tightly links state power to the Kim family.
Although North Korean authorities have yet to confirm Kim Ju-ae's exact age, her recent appearance at the state's most sacred site further fuels international speculation that this marks the official introduction of North Korea's leader's heir.
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