Opinion | Kim Jong-un’s daughter may well become North Korea’s first female leader

A recent report by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service suggests Kim Jong-un has selected his daughter, Ju-ae (or possibly Ju-hae), to succeed him as North Korea’s supreme leader. This is not the first time analysts have had to consider if North Korea, supposedly the most traditionalist of communist states, could have a female leader, but it is the most definitive.

In 2020, Kim spent three weeks out of the spotlight, including missing the April 15 birth celebration of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the country’s first supreme leader, prompting rumours of heart problems. It triggered a wave of speculation, not just about his well-being but also about the regime’s survival.

North Korea is the quintessential one-man dictatorship, and upon taking power in late 2011, Kim had quickly shuffled, purged and even executed high-ranking figures from his father’s government. His most dramatic move was the 2013 arrest and execution of his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, which not only eliminated a rival power centre but also limited outside interference, especially from China.

Kim had, it seems, secured his power but left North Korea without a clear successor. With one exception: his sister, Yo-jong. If anyone has had comparable stature, it is Yo-jong, his attack dog in lambasting opponents including in South Korea, the United States and Japan.

It was Yo-jong who broke the silence between the two Koreas in early 2018 by travelling to Pyeongchang for the Winter Olympics to deliver a message to South Korea’s then president Moon Jae-in. It was also Yo-jong who has delivered the more ominous messages since the subsequent breakdown in ties.