The theory of the successor is excited by the theory of Kim Joo-ae’s eldest daughter.

Koh Yu-hwan, director of the Korea Institute for National Unification, estimated that Kim Joo-ae, the daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is the eldest daughter and is considered to be a candidate for succession.

At a press conference on the subject of political trends on the 26th, Director Goh said, “Personally, I think there is a high possibility that Joo-ae will be the eldest son. said.

In November 2022, Kim Joo-ae appeared for the first time with a photo in the North Korean media, being referred to as a ‘beloved child’. She has since accompanied Kim on most important foreign moves.

In particular, the appearance of military generals standing on folding screens, taking pictures, and standing on the commentary at the Military Foundation Day fever ceremony and commemorative banquet in February ignited the controversy surrounding the ‘successor internal policy’. The biggest basis for the counterargument was that the National Intelligence Service assumed that Kim Joo-ae, born in 2013, was the second daughter and that there was an eldest son born in 2010. In the meantime, the government recently changed its official position to say that the existence of the eldest son is “not certain”.

The intelligence authorities speculated that the son of Chairman Kim and his wife was born in 2010, but it is said that they have never captured any information related to the son for the next 10 years or so. Also, after Kim Joo-ae was intensively highlighted earlier this year, it is said that the evaluation was changed as the credibility of the information source, which was the basis for speculation that her son would exist, was lowered.

Director Ko also likened the situation in which Chairman Kim took Kim Joo-ae with him to be similar to the ‘Kim Il-sung-Kim Jong-il model’.

Kim Jong-il, chairman of the National Defense Commission, participated in military-related field guidance early before being appointed as the official successor.

Director Ko saw that “Rather than putting up a daughter right now, it is to build virtue as a successor.”

Also, when asked if a female leader could come out in North Korean society where a long time has passed without improving the old patriarchal culture, she said, “If you want to create a suryong system, you can create it as much as you want.”

Director Goh also explained that North Korea’s recent provocations have been quieted down due to the internal situation in North Korea, which is in the middle of the rice-planting season, rather than external factors.

He said, “It may be an incubation period for a new policy.”

In North Korea, which suffers from chronic food shortages, it is known that the situation has worsened especially this year. Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said earlier this year that he had identified that North Korea had requested aid from the World Food Program (WFP).

Regarding the prospect of a 7th nuclear test, it was not immediately imminent, but predicted, “If it is necessary for the rapid development of tactical nuclear weapons in the final stage, it will be done.” Still, he pointed out that if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, there is a contradiction in itself. The fact that North Korea conducts an additional nuclear test after declaring that it possesses and completes nuclear weapons is because it shows that its technology is insufficient.

Reporter Yejin Kim [email protected]

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