North Korea, Kim’s daughter with parents at family mausoleum in Pyongyang

Seoul (South Korea), Jan. 2 (LaPresse) – The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made her first known visit to the sacred family mausoleum in Pyongyang. According to experts, this step has reinforced her status as a potential heir to her father. The visit, which took place on New Year’s Day, has sparked speculation that the girl, Kim Ju Ae, nearly 13 years old, could be appointed to a high-level position at the next Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party in the country. Images released by North Korean state media on Friday showed the teenager in the front row with her parents, deeply bowing at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, where the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather are displayed. The palace is “a place that symbolizes the legitimacy of the North Korean regime,” and her visit ahead of the Workers’ Party Congress is a politically orchestrated move, commented Cheong Seong-Chang, deputy director of the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.