By Josh Smith
Seoul (Reuters) -Noord -Korean leader Kim Jong Un brought his teenage daughter to Beijing this week in her first public outing abroad, which feeds further speculation that she is perhaps his potential successor in the dynastic rule of the family over the nuclear armed state.
Secretive Noord -Korea has never unveiled its name or age, but South Korean intelligence officers believe that she is the daughter who has been identified by the former American basketball player Dennis Rodman. Rodman spent time with Kim's family in 2013 and described to hold her as a baby.
She was seen just behind her father when they got out of the armored train, which they traveled from Pyongyang to the Chinese capital Beijing at night, where Kim Jong Un attended a massive military parade on Wednesday organized by China to commemorate the surrender of Japanese Second World War in the Pacific Ocean.
“At the moment, Ju AE is the forerunner as the next supreme leader of North Korea,” said Michael Madden, a leadership expert of North Korea at the US-based Stimson Center. “She gets practical protocol experience that should serve her well as the next leader of Noord -Korea or a kernelite.”
It is the first time that she accompanies Kim Jong Un outside North Korea – an experience that neither her father had neither had nor powerful aunt, Madden said.
“She gets valuable experience and interaction with foreign leadership and other elites,” he said.
Analysts said there is no evidence that Kim Jong Un ever accompanied his father, Kim Jong Il, on overseas trips. Young Il made foreign journeys with his father, the founder of Noord -Korea, Kim Il Sung in the 1950s.
The tightly controlled state media of Noord -Korea had not revealed anything about the children of Kim Jong Un until Ju AE was first shown to the world that her father accompanied for the launch of a huge intercontinental ballistic rocket in 2022.
Little is still known about other Kim children.
The Intelligence Service of South Korea has so far considered Ju Ae as the most likely successor, despite questions whether she can eventually rise to the top of men dominated by men.
Estimated at about 13 years old, Ju AE has attended constant-controversial events, including her diplomatic debut during a Russian embassy event in May.
“The scope of its public performances is certainly extensive from militarily -related locations to political and economic events over the years,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, another researcher at the Stimson Center. “If this was part of a follow -up campaign, this would certainly help with that effort, because it would be seen as the debut of Kim Ju Ae on the international stage.”
Although it is premature to say convincingly whether this visit means that she is the successor to Kim Jong Un, it could still help to broaden her horizon, Lee said, adding that the North Korean media would treat Ju Ae in China, give a better understanding.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Ju-Min Park and Jack Kim; Edit by Michael Perry)
