The National Intelligence Service assessed that Kim Ju-ae, the daughter of State Affairs Commission Chairperson Kim Jong Un, has solidified her standing as a leading successor by gaining overseas experience during her recent visit to China.
On the 11th, at a closed meeting of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, Democratic Party of Korea Commissioner Park Seon-won and People Power Party Commissioner Lee Seong-gwon said the agency reported this analysis regarding Kim Ju-ae, who accompanied the chairperson on the China trip.
The National Intelligence Service said, “Kim Ju-ae stayed at the embassy throughout the visit to China and extremely avoided media exposure, but she secured the ‘revolutionary narrative’ required of a leading successor while the media’s attention was elsewhere,” adding, “It is analyzed that the trip to China was carried out as part of a process to complete a single narrative fundamentally premised on hereditary succession.”
Commissioner Lee said, “At the meeting, questions were raised about children other than Kim Ju-ae, and although there are various speculations such as disability or studying abroad for the (other) children, the National Intelligence Service reported that the likelihood of studying abroad is low.” He also reported that while the chairperson’s overall health is deemed within the normal range, excessive sweating and shortness of breath when climbing stairs were observed due to extreme obesity.
In addition, the National Intelligence Service assessed that while the latest three-way summit among North Korea, China, and Russia outwardly flaunted solidarity, it lacked substance because no concrete policy consultations or platform building took place. It particularly reported that China showed little response to North Korea’s demands on economic cooperation and that differences also appeared in views on peace on the Korean Peninsula and the nuclear issue.
The National Intelligence Service projected, “While the chairperson seeks to prolong the North Korea–Russia alliance, there is a high possibility of simultaneously raising the threshold for dialogue with the United States to pressure negotiations and conducting back-channel contacts.” Regarding inter-Korean relations, it predicted a continued hostile posture with close monitoring of the South Korea–U.S. alliance’s moves.
Commissioner Park added, “There are also signs that China is deliberately keeping its distance to avoid giving the world the impression that North Korea sanctions are being lifted,” and “because there was a summit, economic exchanges between the two sides will inevitably increase for ordinary goods such as daily necessities.”