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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, and his daughter Ju-ae, second from right, attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new street in Pyongyang, Saturday, in this photo provided by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
It is too early to tell if North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un's headline-grabbing daughter, Ju-ae, is the true heir apparent, South Korea's Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said, Monday. But he did not rule out the possibility either that she might become the next leader of the country, which has been ruled by three generations of the Kim family.
"Even if North Korea begins grooming her as the next leader, questions remain as to whether she will be able to lead the military-oriented North Korean system," Kwon said during a radio interview with CBS.
"Kim Jong-un has just turned 40 and the North Korean regime is much more patriarchal and male-dominated than we are."
However, Kwon, a four-term lawmaker, said that the government needs to keep a close eye on whether Ju-ae will assume leadership, given that North Korea has made it clear that the Kim family's rule will continue into the fourth generation.
The South Korean unification minister's prediction comes as Ju-ae made her seventh public appearance, Saturday.
Alongside her father, she attended a groundbreaking ceremony, Saturday, for a new street in Pyongyang, which is part of an ambitious project to build 4,100 homes in the capital city's northern area, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In its report, the KCNA described Ju-ae as its leader's "beloved daughter" instead of mentioning her by name.
Since she made her first public appearance with her father at the test site of an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2022, there has been widespread speculation over whether she will succeed her father. The daughter, believed to be 10 years old, also attended a military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its military earlier this month.
"It is not normal for the North Korean leader to bring his daughter to military-related events at first sight, but it is not usual to see her digging with a shovel during a groundbreaking ceremony," Kwon said.
Although it is widely believed that Ju-ae is the second child of the North Korean leader, the unification minister said he cannot confirm whether Kim has a son, who is believed to be his first child.
Earlier this month, North Korea fired a Hwasong-15 ICBM on a lofted trajectory that flew 989 kilometers and crashed in international waters off the East Sea, according to the KCNA.
Kwon said North Korea may launch an ICBM at a normal angle, an act that will demonstrate the country's mastery of its atmospheric reentry technology.
"If that happens, the United States would likely consider it a very existential threat," the minister said.
North Korea is believed since last year to have fully prepared for its seventh nuclear test, which Kwon said is still likely, saying that the reclusive country has "been keeping tunnels 3 and 4 at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri well-prepared."
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