Is the Kim dynasty preparing an heir?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took his daughter to Beijing this week in her first public appearance abroad, fueling speculation that she could be his potential successor to the family's dynastic rule over the nuclear-armed state.

The secretive North Korea has never revealed her name or age, but South Korean intelligence officials believe she is the daughter identified by former US basketball player Dennis Rodman as Ju Ae. Rodman spent time with Kim's family in 2013 and described holding her in his arms when she was a baby.

She was spotted right behind her father as they got off the armored train they were traveling on from Pyongyang to Beijing, where Kim Jong Un attended a military parade organized by China yesterday to commemorate the Japanese surrender that ended World War II.

“Ju Ae is currently the leading candidate to be the next supreme leader of North Korea,” Michael Madden, an expert on North Korea’s leadership at the Stimson Center, told Reuters. “She is gaining practical protocol experience that could serve her well as the next leader of North Korea or as part of the key elite.”

It was the first time she had accompanied Kim Jong Un outside North Korea, an experience neither her father nor her powerful aunt had ever had, Madden said.

"She is gaining valuable experience in greeting and interacting with foreign leaders and other members of the elite," he added.

Analysts say there is no evidence that Kim Jong Un ever accompanied his father, Kim Jong Il, on foreign trips. However, Jong Il traveled abroad with his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung, in the 1950s, according to Reuters.

Ju Ae's role has gained prominence in recent months. Although she is estimated to be only around 13 years old, she has already attended important events, including her diplomatic debut at a reception at the Russian embassy in May.

North Korea's tightly controlled state media did not reveal anything about Kim Jong Un's children until Ju Ae made her first public appearance in 2022, accompanying her father on an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

Very little is still known about Kim's other children.

According to a 2017 South Korean intelligence report, Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju have three children: a son born in 2010, a daughter born in 2013, believed to be Ju Ae, and, in 2017, a child whose gender has not been confirmed, writes The Guardian.

South Korea's intelligence agency considers Ju Ae to be the most likely successor so far, despite questions about whether she can even reach the top of the male-dominated dynasty.

Despite his weight problems, Kim - believed to be 41 or 42 years old - is apparently in good health, contrary to speculation that circulated at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic due to his weeks-long absence from the public eye.

However, there is no doubt that Ju Ae's role has grown in importance in recent months. Although she is estimated to be only about 13 years old, she is already attending important events, including her diplomatic debut at a reception at the Russian embassy in Pyongyang in May.

“The scope of her public appearances has certainly expanded over the years from military-related venues to political and economic events,” says Rachel Min-yong Lee of the Stimson Center. “If this is part of a succession campaign, it would certainly contribute to that goal because it would be seen as Kim Joo-ae’s international debut.”

“While it is too early to say for sure that this visit means she is Kim Jong Un’s successor, it may still help broaden her horizons,” said Li, adding that the way North Korean media reports on Ju Ae in China could provide more insight.