This month, North Korea held its traditional Workers’ Party Congress, an event that takes place every five years and that, in theory, serves to praise the successes achieved and set new goals. In practice, however, far from being a forum for debate, this meeting functions as a showcase for dictator Kim Jong-un to display the nuclear power of his regime.
However, this edition, although surrounded by the usual pomp, has stood out for an unusual diplomatic gesture by Kim, who has hinted that he could “get along” with Donald Trump if it agreed to recognize Pyongyang as a legitimate nuclear power. A statement that many international analysts interpret as an attempt to alleviate the country’s isolation without giving up the development of its weapons program.
Beyond the nuclear rhetoric, the congress has become another piece of the enigma surrounding the future succession in North Korea. Although many observers believe that Kim Jong-un, 46, He has already pointed out his daughter, Kim Ju-yeahas an heir, others question this hypothesis because to the strong patriarchal character of the regime. Some analysts consider, therefore, that alternatives could arise within the family or military circle if his appointment encountered internal resistance. Especially by the high military hierarchy.
Military parade to commemorate the Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang.
According to an analysis published by The Guardianthe possibility of Kim Ju-ae (who could be around 13 years old) inheriting power faces some obstacles. “The most immediate and insurmountable barrier is the deeply entrenched patriarchal nature of North Korea,” he writes. Mitch Shincorrespondent specializing in the Korean Peninsula for The Diplomatcited by the British newspaper.
Shin adds that the country “functions more like a neo-Confucian monarchy than a socialist state,” and warns that the ranks of aging generals are unlikely to accept a woman as “supreme leader.” “For these men, the concept of swearing absolute loyalty and life or death to a young woman is a structural anomaly that threatens the internal logic of the regime,” says the expert.
In this line, Shin suggests that Kim could be using his daughter as luck. of “human shield”” to protect the true successor: his alleged eldest son, whose existence has circulated for years as a rumor in diplomatic circles. Other analysts, also cited by The Guardianargue that the North Korean patriarchy could be displaced by an even more powerful principle: that of ““Mount Paektu bloodline”a symbol of legitimacy for the Kim dynasty that would place the daughter of the North Korean leader at the head of the country.
For its part, Shreyas Reddycorrespondent of NK Newsconsiders in an article how Kim Ju-ae’s prominence as something “more reformative than political.” He also points out that “the way state media portrays Kim’s affection for his daughter” could reveal a strategy to present him as “a loving father figure for the entire nation.”
The supposed secret son
Who would then be the true heir? Some point to a supposed eldest son of Kim Jong-un. In 2023, South Korean intelligence indicated that the North Korean leader could also have a male child and a third offspring whose gender is unknown. However, experts like Lee Sung-Yoon, researcher principal of the Sejong Institute in Seoul, They doubt this hypothesis and remember that Kim has never confirmed the existence of a son to foreign interlocutors.
For Lee, according to statements collected in The Guardianthe increasing public exposure of Kim Ju-ae – present since 2022 at missile tests, military parades and official events – reinforces the idea that she is being groomed as a successor. His appearance alongside his father at key ceremonies, including a military parade in Pyongyang, has intensified speculation about his political future.
The analyst Lim Eul-chul He also maintains that even details such as the leather jackets that both wore during the Congress have symbolic meaning. And, he summarizes, in North Korea, that image is associated with the leader as guarantor of national security, so replicating it in his daughter would hardly be accidental.
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