Kim Ju Ae, daughter of North Korean dictator leader Kim Jong Un, is in the news these days. At the beginning of the new year, she visited a special place with her parents, due to which people are feeling that she can become the next leader of the country.
On January 1, 2026, Kim Jong Un, his wife Ri Sol Ju and daughter Ju A visited the ‘Kumsusan Palace of the Sun’ in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. This place is very sacred for North Korea. Here are the mausoleums of the country’s founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong Il (Ju A’s grandfather and great-grandfather). North Korean media released photos of this visit, in which Ju A is seen standing between her parents.
These days, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is taking his daughter Kim Ju A with him to public events. Due to this, there is discussion all over the world whether he is making his daughter his successor? If this happens, the power of North Korea will go into the hands of a woman for the first time. On January 1, 2026, she visited Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with her parents for the first time. This place is very sacred for North Korea. Going here is considered a symbol of the continuity of power of the Kim family.
This is Xu A’s first public visit to this place. For the last three years, Ju A has been more visible in the government media. She has been seen with her father in missile tests, parades and big programs. She also went to Beijing with her father in September 2025. From all this it is being speculated that Kim Jong Un is preparing to hand over power to his daughter.
Photos by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA showed Kim Jong-un accompanying his wife Ri Sol-ju and senior officials on a visit on January 1, with Ju-ae sitting between her parents in the main hall of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. South Korea’s intelligence agency also believes that Ju A is a possible successor.
Kim family in power for three generations
Kim Jong Un, 41, is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea since the country’s founding in 1948. The Kim family has been in power in North Korea for three generations. If Xu Ai becomes leader, she will be the fourth generation ruler and the country’s first female leader. Earlier some people thought that Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong could take over power, but now with the increasing presence of Ju A, it seems that Kim wants to hand over the power of the family to his daughter.
Kim Jong Un also has other children, about whom not much is known. There is no exact information about Kim Ju A’s age, but her age is said to be around 13 years. She was first seen in public in 2022, when she accompanied her father to watch a missile test. Since then she has appeared in many important programs. In North Korea’s state media, Kim Ju Ae is addressed with respectable terms such as ‘beloved child’ or ‘great person who guides’. These terms are generally used only for top leaders or their successors.