North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter made her first publicly known visit to a revered family mausoleum, a move analysts say may signal her rise as a potential heir.
The outing, which took place on New Year’s Day, fueled speculation that the girl, believed to be 13-year-old Kim Ju Ae, could soon hold a senior role at the ruling Workers’ Party congress.
State media images on Friday showed Kim Ju Ae in the front row alongside her parents, bowing deeply at Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the resting place of her embalmed grandfather and great-grandfather.
The palace is “a place that symbolizes legitimacy of the North Korean regime,” and her visit there ahead of the Workers’ Party congress is a politically orchestrated move, said Cheong Seong-chang, deputy head of the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.
Kim Jong Un, 41, is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea since the country’s founding in 1948. He often marks key state anniversaries by visiting the Kumsusan Palace and paying respect to his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung.
