South Korean spy agency declares Kim Jong Un's teen daughter his heir

South Korea’s intelligence agency confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter is his designated heir on Monday, April 6.

On Monday, April 6, the agency marked that this decision is its strongest assessment yet on the girl’s rising political status.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers that the decision is based on “credible intelligence,” not merely circumstantial evidence.

The intelligence agency specifically pointed out that the latest pictures featured on the state-run media have shown Kim Ju Ae driving a brand new battle tank.

This followed previous pictures of her shooting a rifle and operating a pistol.

According to the NIS, such publicity moves were meant to demonstrate her prowess in the military and eliminate any doubts surrounding her leadership capabilities.

Lawmaker Park Sun-won mentioned that the visuals were very similar to the pictures taken by Kim Jong Un, who at the time was being groomed as the future successor to his father, Kim Jong IL.

The most recent evaluation not only considers the prior stance held by the intelligence agency regarding her potential succession but also extends to the new belief of the NIS regarding her status as the second-most prominent leader in North Korea’s hierarchy.

But some analysts urged caution. Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification noted that Ju Ae has so far appeared only alongside her father.

This is contrary to Kim Jong Un’s own grooming phase when he used to go solo on his military outings.