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yesterday

Kim Jong Un Brings Daughter to Beijing in First Public Trip Abroad

Analysts and South Korea’s intelligence service say the visit advances her grooming as a potential successor, even as state media withholds her name.

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A girl believed to be Kim Jong Un's daughter stands behind the North Korean leader in this photo provided by the North Korean government, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025.
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A combination picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on September 2, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walking (top), and being greeted next to his daughter Kim Ju Ae by Director of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Cai Qi (bottom left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (bottom right), after his arrival in Beijing, China. KCNA via REUTERS

Overview

  • North Korean state media released photos showing Kim Ju-ae accompanying her father to Beijing, marking her first public outing outside the country.
  • She was not seen on the Tiananmen Square rostrum during Wednesday’s Chinese military parade where Kim Jong Un attended alongside foreign leaders.
  • South Korea’s National Intelligence Service regards her as the most likely successor so far, and experts say the trip gives her valuable diplomatic protocol experience.
  • KCNA reported Kim’s movements unusually quickly and continues to refer to his daughter with honorifics rather than naming her, keeping formal succession opaque.
  • Neither Ri Sol-ju nor Kim Yo-jong appeared on the trip, as Ju-ae was positioned close to top Chinese officials, extending a public profile built since her 2022 ICBM debut and a May event at Russia’s embassy in Pyongyang.