Author: Shen Guishi
SEOUL, April 6 (Reuters) – South Korea’s spy agency now believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter has been positioned as his successor, lawmakers said on Monday, citing recently publicly shown photos of her driving a tank, possibly in an effort to dispel any doubts.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers that its assessment was not based on circumstantial inferences but on “credible intelligence” collected by the agency, according to a briefing by members of the ruling and opposition parties after a closed parliamentary meeting.
Lawmakers said the National Intelligence Service said images of their daughter driving a tank were intended to highlight her alleged military talents and dispel doubts about female heirs.
North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency last month released photos of Kim Jong Un and his daughter driving a new tank, after previous photos showed Kim firing weapons at a shooting range and using a pistol.
Park Sun-won, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party, said the scenes were a “homage” to Kim Jong-un’s public military appearances in the early 2010s as he prepared to succeed his father.
The latest assessment of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, believed to be around 13 years old and named Ju Ae, is an advance on an earlier analysis by the spy agency that said she was likely being groomed to succeed her father.
Lawmakers quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying Joo-ae’s repeated appearances at defense-related events were aimed at allaying doubts about female successors and accelerating the construction of a succession narrative.
Lawmakers have previously said the agency views her increasingly prominent role as a sign that she has come to be viewed as the de facto second-highest figure in North Korea’s leadership.
People’s Power Party lawmaker Lee Seong-kwon said the National Intelligence Service was wrong to suggest that Kim Yo-jong’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, might be unhappy with the focus on Ju-ae because Kim Yo-jong does not hold independent power.
However, some North Korea experts urge caution in interpreting the images as clear signals of succession.
Hong Min, an analyst at South Korea’s Institute for National Unification, said Joo Ae’s tank appearance alone was not enough to conclude that she had been confirmed as Kim Jong Un’s heir, noting that she appeared with her father rather than alone, unlike Kim Jong Un who appeared alone in the military during his grooming stage.
(Reporting by Shim Kyu-seok; Editing by Ed Davis)
