Most preteens would rarely deign to be spotted in public with their parents.
Not North Korea’s Kim Ju Ae.
After all, she’s the daughter of a ‘living god’ – and, if South Korean spies are correct, the heir-apparent to the nuclear-armed hermit kingdom.
Over the last two years, Ju Ae has been seen accompanying her dad, dictator Kim Jong Un, on unconventional days out; strolling hand-in-hand past long-range missiles, smiling and waving at paramilitary parades and happily observing rocket launches in matching father-daughter leather jackets and Bond-villain shades.
The pair has been pictured together more than two dozen times.
But still, Ju Ae remains a deeply mysterious figure.
The tyrannical Kim family is so secretive that no one knows if Ju Ae is even her real name, or exactly how old she is, with estimates ranging from 10 to 12-years-old.
And despite her youth, she may find herself thrust into a position of power and peril much sooner than she may expect.
North Korea experts say her ‘extremely obese’ 40-year-old father may keel over at any moment – leaving her at the helm of this bizarre 26 million-strong nation and, perhaps, setting off a fierce succession fight with her notoriously ruthless, ‘psychopath’ aunt.
The world only discovered Ju Ae existed in early 2013 after 90s NBA badboy, ex-Chicago Bulls player Dennis Rodman was invited to a North Korean beach retreat.
The media company, Vice, sponsored Rodman’s jaunt to the authoritarian state to take in an exhibition basketball game – and he was received by Jong Un, who has been a fan of the Chicago Bulls ever since he was introduced to the sport as a teenager by his authoritarian father’s Japanese sushi chef.
When Rodman returned from his trip full of bonhomie for the dictator, he raved that Jong Un was a ‘great guy’ and his ‘friend for life,’ and revealed the existence of Ju Ae.
‘The Marshal Kim and I had a relaxing time by the sea with his family,’ Rodman told Western media, adding ‘I held their baby Ju Ae… He’s a good dad and has a beautiful family.’
It was the first time the world had heard of any of Jong Un’s children. He is now thought to have three: an older boy, Ju Ae and a younger child of an unknown gender.
After Rodman’s disclosure, Ju Ae was not seen in public for another nine years, until her grand unveiling in November 2022.
She was pictured for the first-time wearing a white puffy coat and walking arm-in-arm with her father past an intercontinental ballistic missile theoretically capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.
Since then, Ju Ae has popped up at over a dozen events, always flanking her dad, in glamorous outfits, with long fur-lined leather coats and matching gloves.
On New Year’s Eve 2024, she was filmed tenderly clasping Jong Un’s face with both hands, kissing him on the cheek and whispering in his ear to make him laugh.
In North Korean state media, she is referred to as his ‘precious’ or ‘respected’ daughter – a clear sign of her favor – and this week, South Korean intelligence services revealed in a closed-door briefing of the country’s lawmakers that she has likely been selected as his heir.
Her position comes with extreme benefits in a totalitarian country where almost half of the population is undernourished and an estimated six million are held as slaves in prison camps.
‘The children of the great leader, arguably live the most spoiled lifestyle on Earth,’ North Korea expert Sung-Yoon Lee told DailyMail.com. ‘There are princes and princesses in other countries, but this particular family is very different, they are almost god-like.’
‘We don’t know exactly how many palatial mansions they have, but at least 20,’ Lee said. ‘They have huge sprawling estates with horse racing tracks, Olympic-size swimming pools, spas and cinemas,’ said Lee, author of the book The Sister about the most powerful woman in North Korea, Jung Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong.
As far as schooling goes, Ju Ae will be waited on hand and foot, Lee claimed: ‘Kim Jong Un’s daughter is pampered, spoiled and has plenty of servile teachers all bowing down to her.’
Jong Un and his siblings were sent to high school in Switzerland, but Ju Ae will not be, he said.
Modern technology, like iPhones and social media, create an untenable risk for that regime that someone may share a picture of Ju Ae and they’d lose control of her carefully curated image, Lee explained.
If the world saw Ju Ae as a young ‘brat’, it would destroy the ‘mystique and aura of the ruling family, that they are all geniuses.’
Instead, the children of high-ranking officials are likely brought into the palaces to play with Ju Ae, provided they ‘keep it secret’.
Ju Ae is also likely shielded from the harsh realities of her father’s rule and ‘maintains some innocence,’ Lee said, but ‘in time she will grow into the role of the successor of her almighty, powerful daddy and will feel entitled to that role and the luxuries she’s used to.’
As Jong Un’s weight balloons – reaching an estimated 310 lbs – experts warn his health is declining, creating a new sense of urgency to select a successor.
‘Kim Jong Un is extremely obese,’ a top South Korean lawmaker, who sits on the legislature’s Intelligence Committee, said this week. ‘We understand that he has been showing symptoms of high blood pressure and diabetes since his early thirties.
‘If he does not improve his current health condition, there is a strong possibility that he may develop cardiovascular disease, of which there is a family history.’
Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong il, died in 2011 and it is believed that he suffered a massive heart attack.
Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, said this week that Jong Un’s health is so poor that ‘it won’t be surprising even if he collapses tomorrow.’
However, Ju Ae’s path to power is by no means certain and she may yet face a fierce fight with her aunt, Yo Jong, 36.
Yo Jong, who often appears gaunt and pale looming behind her brother, has long been considered the favorite to replace him.
According to Sung-Yoon Lee, she’s been lauded as the ‘brains behind the operation’ and is known for her ‘ruthless’ streak, taking after her ‘psychopath’ father.
She has ‘the ultimate power of the cruel dictator; the power to play God and decide who lives and who is killed’, Lee writes in his book, The Sister.
In 2021, Yo Jong reportedly ‘ordered several executions of high-ranking government officials for merely ‘getting on her nerves’.’
Those she found ‘less disagreeable’ were banished – along with their innocent families – to detention camps and gulags, ‘where a life of grueling forced labor, beatings, torture and starvation rations awaited’.
And parricide is not out of the question in the Kim clan either.
Kim Jong il, father of Jung Un and Yo Jong, is suspected of having his half-brother, Kim Jong nam, assassinated by nerve agent in Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017
It’s not yet clear if Yo Jong would support her niece’s rule and Lee told the Mail that he ‘can’t rule out a power struggle between the two women down the road.
‘[Yo Jong] has been playing the role of deputy despot for years now, that gives her an advantage.’
Whatever the future holds, it is assuredly uncertain for both Ju Ae and the world.
For Lee suspects that there is another reason Jong Un may be parading his daughter around.
It’s a show of strength from the dynasty, he believes: ‘Jong Un is projecting to the West: My nukes are here to stay, to be handed down to my children’s generation. We are a dynasty. We have all the time in the world.’