North Korea's Succession Question: The Future of the Kim Dynasty
The Inaugural Report of the Strategic Insights Series.
Read the full PDF of the report below.
In Brief
• Renewed interest in Kim Ju Ae as her father’s chosen heir followed South Korea’s intelligence service assessment in February 2026 that she had entered a successor designation stage.
• Several signs support the assessment that Kim Jong Un’s daughter could be his chosen heir, such as her increasingly frequent public appearances and attendance at strategic events.
• Her sustained public visibility represents a notable departure from established North Korean succession patterns, in which formal institutional appointments historically preceded and anchored the public image-making process of the incoming leader.
• While Ju Ae’s Paektu lineage makes her an eligible successor, bloodline alone is unlikely to be sufficient to secure her position as North Korea’s next leader.
• Kim Jong Un’s broader elevation of women to senior positions, combined with his public remarks on women’s role in the state’s future, could signal a deliberate effort to shift elite and societal expectations in ways that could ease the path for a female successor.
• Kim Yo Jong remains the most institutionally credible alternative successor, whether as a primary successor or a transitional figure should Kim Jong Un die or become incapacitated in the near future.
• The clearest confirmation of Ju Ae being chosen as heir would be her formal appointment to senior party or military positions.
• Given her age, such appointments are unlikely before she reaches adulthood, meaning the succession question may remain unresolved for years to come.