North Korea’s regime could pave the way for the Kim dynasty’s first female leader

North Korea’s government media mentioned this on Saturday dictator’s teenage daughter Kim Jong Un As A “Great Guide”According to analysts, a term that points to the position of a possible successor to the head of the regime.

Report in English and Korean from the official North Korean agency KCNA About this A visit to an agricultural complex by Kim and her daughter They use the honorific in the plural, meaning it refers to both.

“The noble guides, along with party, government and military officials, visited the farm,” the English version of the article, with photos of the North Korean leader and his daughter, said.

Analysts highlighted that this is the first time that Kim’s daughter has never been named by Pyongyang media but has been identified as such by South Korean intelligence. Ju Ai.

“This is the first expression that elevates Kim Ju Ae to the rank of leader”.he pointed AFP Yang Moo-jin, rector of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

The Korean word “hyangdo,” meaning guide, is typically reserved for “senior leaders or successors” of the communist regime, said Cheong Seong-chang, an expert at the Sejong Institute.

“This level of personal respect for Kim Ju Ae strongly points to him becoming the next leader of North Korea after Kim Jong-un,” Cheong said.

Kim Jong-un is the grandson of North Korea’s founderKim Il Sung, and became the country’s head of state after his father Kim Jong Il died in 2011.

In case of succession, His daughter Ju Ae will be the fourth member of the Kim dynasty to lead the country.

According to Seoul’s spy agency, the current leader married his wife Ri Sol Ju in 2009.

Ju Ae was first introduced to the world by the official North Korean media In 2022, When he accompanied his father to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Since then he has been seen at many of his father’s official events, such as military exercises or visits to arms factories and poultry farms.

Before 2022, the only confirmation of its existence came from former NBA player Dennis Rodman, who visited North Korea in 2013 and said he met Kim’s daughter, named Ju Ae, and then had a child.

Seoul initially said Kim and his wife Ri had their first child, a boy, in 2010 and Ju A was born later.

But last year, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said the government was “Unable to confirm with absolute certainty” the existence of Kim Jong-un’s son.

(With information from AFP)