Who`s Next After Kim Jong-Un?

The supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un`s time might be coming to an end in the future hence there is speculation on who could become the next ruler of the North. It appears that Kim Jong-Un is grooming his 13-year-old daughter Kim Ju-Ae to take over. 

Furthermore, the spy agency from South Korea, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), has mentioned her public profile is starting to increase creating an ongoing debate about the future of the Kim Dynasty by regional analysts.

“Even though Kim Ju-Ae is only 13 years old now, but I expect her to become a great leader when she comes of age later,” Park Chul-Un, an ex-minister who opened ties with China and Russia, said. “She is fulfilling her lessons for leadership so successfully.”

Last month, speculations about Ju-Ae`s political future intensified after she accompanied her parents on a New Year`s Day visit to Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang. 

According to NK News, an independent, privately owned specialist, information that focuses on North Korea, “However, the lawmakers relaying the spy agency’s findings did not present any evidence or reasoning behind these bold assertions. Instead, they simply said her role at the ruling party’s Ninth Congress in late February will be ‘closely monitored.’”

In addition, back in early September 2025, she had also travelled to Beijing with her father for Kim`s first North Korea-China summit, with President Xi Jinping, in six years. 

Ju-Ae made her first public appearance back in 2022 at a long-range missile test. Additionally, she started accompanying her father on multiple occasions from factory openings, weapons testing and military parades. 

There were plans for her to study in Switzerland just like her father Kim but due to her being in the spotlight, it could be impossible. Meanwhile, the Kim family is trying to stay out of the spotlight. The private life of Kim Jong-Un, such as the names of his children, are considered state secrets.

The Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un and his wife First Lady of North Korea Ri Sol-Ju, have three children, a son born in 2010, Kim Ju Ae was born in 2013 and another child born in 2017 with the gender unconfirmed but some suggest it could be a daughter. 

The first person who knew about his daughter was NBA player Dennis Rodman when he visited Pyongyang back in 2013. Rodman also recalled holding Ju-Ae with First Lady Ri in an interview he had with The Guardian.

There is also doubt that she could be chosen as a successor to her father by South Korean officials. There is a possibility that Kim`s other children could take over in the future.

“I can’t believe that if Kim Jong-Un died tomorrow, she would be able to lead the country,” Stephen Haggard, research professor at the University of California San Diego said. “That is probably true over at least a 10-15 year window.”

Experts said it is too early to speculate as the seat for supreme leader of North Korea is reserved for a male heir. But defectors doubted the idea due to the isolated countries traditional gender roles.

Kim Jong-Un was educated in the West, in the International School of Berne from 1993 to 1998 and Liebefeld-Steinhölzli State School from 1998 to 2000. This made many North Koreans hope that he would open up the country further to the west but that hope remains unfulfilled.