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According to South Korea’s spy agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may name his teenage daughter his successor.
“The East Asian country’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) reported the ruler is taking steps to secure his daughter’s position as successor as the country’s fourth-generation leader,” USA TODAY reports.
North Korea is preparing to hold its biggest political conference this month, The Guardian noted.
JUST IN: 🇰🇵 Kim Jong Un to officially designate his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as North Korea’s next leader. pic.twitter.com/egv92tW1BA
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) February 12, 2026
USA TODAY has more:
Believed to be in her early teens, North Korea state media has captured Kim Ju Ae on camera accompanying her father and inspecting weapons projects amid the speculation she is being groomed to take his seat.
“In the past, the NIS described Kim Ju Ae as being ‘in study as successor’ but today the expression used was that she ‘was in the stage of being internally appointed successor,’” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters following a closed-door briefing from the NIS.
Despite lawmakers’ projection, it was not immediately clear whether her 42-year-old father plans to step down as the country’s supreme leader.
“The NIS believes the role she has taken on during public events indicates she has started to provide policy input and that she is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader,” Lee and another lawmaker, Park Sun-won, said.
“In the past, [the NIS] described Kim Ju-ae as being in the midst of ‘successor training’. What was notable today is that they used the term ‘successor-designate stage’, a shift that’s quite significant,” said South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, according to The Guardian.
Kim Ju Ae, the young daughter of Kim Jong Un, seems increasingly positioned to become the next leader of North Korea https://t.co/1g12ffdPxa
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 13, 2026
The Guardian shared further:
According to Lee, the agency cited her growing presence at high-profile military events, her inclusion in the family visit to Kumsusan, and signs that Kim was beginning to seek her input on certain policy matters.
Not much is known about Kim’s daughter. Despite her increased visibility in propaganda, North Korean state media have never published her name, referring to her as his “respected” or “most beloved” child.
The belief that she is named Kim Ju-ae is based on an account by the former NBA star Dennis Rodman in which he recalled holding Kim’s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013. South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born sometime that year.
In 2023, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that Kim and his wife also probably have an older son and a younger third child, whose gender is unknown.
Since North Korea’s foundation in 1948, it has been ruled by male members of the Kim family, beginning with the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, and followed by his son, Kim Jong-il.
Kim Jong-un was just 26 when he was officially named heir during a 2010 party conference, two years after Kim Jong-il had a debilitating stroke. After his father’s death in December 2011, Kim Jong-un was abruptly thrust into the throne with relatively little preparation.
Some analysts suggest Kim’s decision to give his daughter and early debut may reflect his own experience of being rushed into power.