North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter Ju Ae appears to be next in line to succeed her father, South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers Monday. In this March image, Ju Ae is seen test-firing a pistol at a munitions factory. Photo by KCNA/UPI | License Photo
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae appears to be next in line to succeed her father, South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers Monday, in the agency’s most definitive assessment yet of the teenager as a successor.
National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Lee Jong-seok made the remarks during a closed-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to Reps. Park Sun-won of the Democratic Party and Lee Seong-kweun of the People Power Party.
“(She) can be seen as the successor,” the NIS director was quoted as saying when asked about Ju-ae’s status. “This is not a judgement based on mere signs but on credible intelligence.”
Kim’s daughter has recently been prominently featured in state media reports, including one of her driving a battle tank with her father.
“Ju-ae has recently made appearances in defense-related sectors,” the lawmakers quoted the NIS as saying. “This is assessed to be aimed at diluting skepticism around a female successor and accelerating efforts to build a succession narrative.”
Last month, the North’s state media reported that Kim oversaw a drill featuring new battle tanks, releasing photos of his daughter, believed to be in her teens, driving one carrying her father and military personnel.
The NIS said the report appears to be aimed at emphasizing Ju-ae’s military capabilities and an homage to Kim who was also seen aboard a tank in state media footage before he succeeded his father and former leader Kim Jong-il.
Ju-ae has been widely seen as a potential successor as she has increasingly appeared alongside her father at major domestic events. North Korea has been ruled by men of the Kim family over three generations for about eight decades.
It also assessed that Kim’s sister Kim Yo-jong holds no real power, when lawmakers asked about whether she could be unhappy about her niece’s status.
The NIS additionally noted major changes in Kim’s status as leader through a recent ruling party congress and its rubber-stamp legislature, citing the apparent lack of efforts to emphasize the role of his predecessors.
Regarding North Korea’s recent test of a new missile engine made with carbon fiber material, the NIS noted the possibility that it could be aimed at achieving a lighter missile body and developing multiple-warhead capabilities.
Kim oversaw the test of the upgraded engine with a maximum thrust of 2,500 kilonewtons as part of a five-year national defense development plan, state media reported late last month.
The NIS also said that, during the ongoing war, North Korea has yet to send weapons or supplies to Iran, with which Pyongyang has traditionally maintained close ties, according to the lawmakers.
It noted that Pyongyang did not send a message of condolences to Tehran when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed or send a congratulatory message when his second son was elected as supreme leader.
The NIS speculated that the North appears to be making preparations to secure room for diplomacy after U.S. President Donald Trump‘s planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in May.
The spy agency also separately assessed that the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran could wind down in late April based on the results of possible U.S. strikes in the next three to four days.
Trump on Sunday renewed his threats to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if the Islamic Republic does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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