North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is taking steps to solidify his daughter's position to succeed him as leader of the country, South Korean lawmakers said today, citing an intelligence agency briefing.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) will closely monitor whether the daughter, believed to be Kim Ju-ae, attends an upcoming meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and how she will be introduced, including whether she will take on any official title, lawmakers said, Reuters reported on its website.
"In the past, the NIS described Kim Ju-ae as someone being considered as a successor, but today the term used is that she is in the process of being internally appointed as a successor," lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters after a closed-door NIS briefing.
Ju Ae, believed to be in her early teens, has increasingly appeared in North Korean state media, accompanying her father on visits around the country, including inspections of weapons projects.
NIS believes that the role she has taken during public events indicates that she has begun to contribute to politics and is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader, said Lee and Rep. Park Sun-won.
North Korea has said the Workers' Party will convene the inaugural meeting of its ninth congress in late February, an event that analysts believe will reveal the main policy goals for the coming years in the areas of economy, foreign affairs and defense.
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