South Korea views Kim Jong Un’s young daughter as his likely successor in North

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second right, with his daughter and his wife Ri Sol Ju, left, celebrates the new year in Pyongyang (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

The young daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen as her father’s likely heir apparent, South Korea’s spy agency said in its first such assessment on the girl unveiled to the outside world a little more than a year ago.

There has been intense outside debate and speculation about the girl, reportedly about 10 years old and named Ju Ae, since she made her first public appearance in November 2022, when she watched a long-range missile test-launch with her father.