South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday (February 12, 2026) that it believes the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is close to being designated as the country’s future leader as he moves to extend the family dynasty to a fourth generation.

The assessment by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) comes as North Korea is preparing to hold its biggest political conference later this month, where Mr. Kim is expected to outline his major policy goals for the next five years and take steps to tighten his authoritarian grip.

In a closed-door briefing, NIS officials said they are closely monitoring whether Kim’s daughter — believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and around 13 years old — appears with him before thousands of delegates at the upcoming Workers’ Party Congress, said lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the meeting.

First appearing in public at a long-range missile test in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has since accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings. She travelled with him to Beijing last September for Mr. Kim’s first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years on the sidelines of a World War II event.

Speculation about her political future intensified last month when she joined her parents on a New Year’s Day visit to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred family mausoleum displaying the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather, the country’s first- and second-generation leaders. Some experts saw the visit as the clearest sign yet that she’s positioned to be the heir to her 42-year-old father.

South Korean officials initially expressed doubt that she could be chosen as a North Korean leader, citing the country’s deeply conservative culture and tradition of male-dominated leadership. But her increasingly prominent appearances in state media have prompted a reassessment.

In its previous assessment of Kim Ju Ae’s status in September, the NIS told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un’s decision to bring her along on his trip to China was likely part of an effort to build a “narrative” possibly paving the way for her succession.

“In the past, [NIS] described Kim Ju Ae as being in the midst of successor training.’ What was notable today is that they used the term successor-designate stage,’ a shift that’s quite significant,” Mr. Lee said.

According to Mr. Lee, the agency cited her growing presence at high-profile military events, her inclusion in the family visit to Kumsusan, and signs that Kim Jong Un was beginning to seek her input on certain policy matters.

Not much is known about Mr. Kim’s daughter

Despite her increased visibility in propaganda, North Korean state media have never published the name of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, only referring to her as his “respected” or “most beloved” child.

The belief that she is named Kim Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, in which he recalled holding Kim Jong Un’s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013. South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born sometime that year.

In 2023, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un and his wife also likely have an older son and a younger third child whose gender is unknown.

Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been ruled by male members of the Kim family, beginning with the country’s founder Kim Il Sung and followed by his son, Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Un was just 26 when he was officially named heir during a 2010 party conference, two years after Kim Jong Il suffered a debilitating stroke. Following his father’s death in December 2011, he was abruptly thrust into the throne with relatively little preparation.

Some analysts suggest that Kim Jong Un’s decision to debut his daughter early possibly reflects his own experience of being rushed into power.

Party Congress may offer hints toward succession plans

Kim Ju Ae’s first known visit to Kumsusan last month was also her father’s first visit to the site in three years. Given the palace’s status as a key symbol of the Kim family rule, the trip should be seen as a symbolic gesture by Kim Jong Un to present his daughter as his heir before his grandfather and father as he prepares for the major ruling Party Congress, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.

The Workers’ Party congress in late February, last held in 2016 and 2021, could provide a stage for Kim Jong Un to formalise his succession plans, possibly by giving his daughter the party’s first secretary post, its No. 2 job, although such a decision might not be immediately disclosed to the outside world, Mr. Cheong said.

Other analysts question whether she would receive such a high-profile post or any formal party role, given that party rules require members to be at least 18.

If Kim Jong Un does use the Party Congress to cement his daughter as successor, the signs would be more subtle, said Koh Yu-hwan, former president of South Korea’s Institute of National Unification.

For example, the party may issue self-praise about how North Korea has survived longer than most other Communist states and credit that to how the country established a “successful inheritance of the revolution,” he said.

“If you see comments like that, it would be reasonable to think that Ju Ae has been cemented,” as heir, Mr. Koh said.

Published – February 13, 2026 11:57 am IST

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

An object, what appears to be a missile, flies through the air, as the Missile General Bureau of North Korea claims they successfully conducted a test of a major weapons system on October 22, 2025, at an unspecified location, in this photo released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency October 23, 2025. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island, in Singapore, June 12, 2018.
| Photo Credit: AP

President Donald Trump said in an interview that he would reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who he described as a “smart guy.”

Mr. Trump was being interviewed on Fox News by Sean Hannity, who asked the president if he planned to talk to his North Korean counterpart. Mr. Trump said he would.

“I got along with him,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Kim. “He’s not a religious zealot.”

White House asks California congressional members to hold roundtable during Mr. Trump visit

The White House has asked California congressional members, including Democrats, to hold a roundtable at an airplane hangar in Santa Monica during Mr. Trump’s visit to the fire-ravaged region of California on Friday afternoon.

That’s according to a person briefed on the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them.

Congressional Democrats have sharply criticized the new president’s threats to withhold federal disaster aid unless California’s leaders change the state’s approach on its management of water.

There are currently no plans to visit sites of fire destruction in Altadena, a working class area heavily impacted by the Eaton fire, according to the source familiar, though it was unclear if the president would be visiting other sites.

Seoul:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a drill simulating a “nuclear counterattack,” state-run KCNA news agency said Tuesday, the latest in a volley of tests by Pyongyang this year.

The drill took place on Monday, according to the report. Seoul’s military had earlier announced that the North had fired several short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, with Tokyo confirming the launch.

The drill involved “super-large multiple rocket units” which “hit their island target” some 352 kilometres (219 miles) away, the report said.

It added that Kim “appreciated the high hit and accuracy” of the rockets.

South Korea’s military said Monday that the missiles flew from the Pyongyang area for about 300 kilometres before splashing down in the waters east of the Korean peninsula.

The launch is the second in less than a week by Pyongyang, which on Friday tested a “super-large warhead” designed for a strategic cruise missile, state media said. Seoul’s military confirmed it had detected cruise missile launches at the time.

The launch comes after Pyongyang’s ally Moscow in March used its United Nations Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of sanctions violations on Kim’s government for its nuclear and weapons programme.

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