Cheong says her TV appearances – where she is placed in the centre of the frame and the state media’s description of her as “the respected child” – are the clearest sign that she has become the official heir.
“The state media is using words reserved for the supreme leader. It underlines her own cult of personality.”
Her proximity to the country’s military is another sign, Cheong adds.
She inspected troops and weapons alongside her father. Several times, the top generals were seen kneeling beside her to whisper in her ear as she sat with her father watching military parades.
Kim Jong Un’s power rests in his control of the military, Cheong explains. If Ju Ae were to succeed him, she would need to appear as a credible military commander.
When inspecting troops with her father, she dons the same long black leather coat and dark sunglasses that he wears.
When Kim Jong Un inherited power, it happened rather suddenly. He only appeared publicly a year before his father’s passing.
Cheong believes Kim is trying to avoid such a rapid transition by introducing Ju Ae early to the regime and the public.
There is no evidence that Kim Jong Un is suffering from ill health, aside from references to his weight, smoking and drinking habits.
But Kim might be trying to appoint his heir early to avoid a succession crisis, according to Cheong.
However, former North Korean official Ryu Hyun-woo sees little possibility of a woman ruling over the country.
Ryu, who served as a diplomat before defecting in 2019, says the North Korean legal code, created by the Kim family, requires the country to be run by a person of the Paektu bloodline – in other words, a direct descendant of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung.
Although Ju Ae is of the bloodline, North Korea’s patriarchal system would not see her as being of the bloodline, Ryu says.
