A piece published in a political theory journal for North Korea's Labor Party cadres last year is drawing attention for stressing that the essence of the power succession issue is to set up a "successor" who will take over the leader as is.
It did not directly mention Kim Jong-un's daughter, Kim Ju-ae, but it is notable because it came out as Kim Ju-ae's external activities have been ramping up.
According to Yonhap News on the 8th, the Labor Party's political theory organ Rodongja carried an article titled "The Workers' Party of Korea is a great party that brilliantly resolved the succession of leadership" under the byline Hyeonho in its Mar. 2025 issue.
The writer noted that the Labor Party is "a great party that established an original ideological theory on resolving the succession of leadership," and said the essence is "to put forward a successor who inherits the political leader's status and role and to establish his leadership system."
To that end, it explained, one must "put forward as the leader's successor a people's leader with the dignity and qualities to fully realize political leadership over the whole society, who has taken over the leader's status and role as is," and establish that person's leadership system.
It also cited as basic requirements for resolving the succession issue "the work of elevating (the successor) in accordance with the people's respect and trust and the partywide organizational will" and "the work of establishing the successor's leadership system while the leader is alive."
It further mentioned the importance of cultivating loyalty to the successor among cadres, party members, and workers, and of "strengthening the struggle against all kinds of unsound phenomena and elements that run counter to the successor's monolithic leadership system."
It added that the Labor Party has already established a "great tradition" of succession, citing cases in which Kim Jong Il and the chairperson began the power succession process while their predecessors were still alive.
After noting that in the 1970s Kim Jong Il took control of the party as a successor under his father Kim Il Sung, it went on to explain that Kim Jong Il likewise "from early on devoted deep attention and great effort to raising the beloved Kim Jong-un as the great successor who would lead the cause of the Juche revolution from generation to generation."
It concluded by stressing that all party organizations and cadres "must actively contribute to carrying forward and completing the cause of the Juche revolution to the end from generation to generation."
Rodongja is the Labor Party's core in-house theoretical journal, intended mainly to disseminate the party's policy line to cadres.
North Korea's move to highlight the importance of a successor while recalling the power succession processes of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong-un in such a publication may be an early attempt to justify a "fourth-generation hereditary succession."
In June 2011, as it formalized Kim Jong-un as successor and proceeded with the transfer of power, North Korea published in the propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri a paper from Kim Il Sung Broadcasting University that discussed the importance of succession, the successor's qualities, and the selection method.
The timing of Rodongja's publication of this piece (Mar. 2025) also stands out. After accompanying a test launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) in Jan. last year, Kim Ju-ae did not appear in public for three months. But starting in early April, immediately after the article was published, she resumed active public activities, beginning with a visit to a convenience facility construction site in the Hwasong district of Pyongyang.
On Jan. 1 this year, she also drew attention for making her first public visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which symbolizes the legitimacy of North Korea's hereditary succession. However, North Korea has not yet formalized Kim Ju-ae as the successor. Based on how she appears in North Korean media, some analysts say the intention is more symbolic—such as emphasizing the "socialist big family"—than giving her the character of a successor.