North Korea recasts Kim Ju Ae’s public role

What image does Kim Jong Un want for his daughter? In recent weeks, Kim Ju Ae’s public portrayal has shifted noticeably.

Korean Central Television aired footage on Feb. 27 showing her firing a sniper rifle. On March 11, she appeared using a handgun, and on March 20 she was shown driving a tank. The child once seen walking beside her father is now being presented in a combat-oriented role. Further images of her handling heavier weapons would no longer seem unusual.

She is 13. The sight of a teenager operating a tank and firing a sniper rifle is striking. Even in modern military history, examples of 13-year-old female snipers are rare. Such imagery is uncommon even in regions where minors have been forced into armed conflict.

North Korean media first published a solo image of Kim Ju Ae on Feb. 27, showing her firing the sniper rifle. At the moment of discharge, the recoil appeared to push her shoulder back.

Why is Kim Jong Un emphasizing these images? What message is he trying to send? Firearms generally symbolize power, but in North Korea they carry a distinct ideological meaning. The phrase “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” widely attributed to Mao Zedong in 1927, has been developed further into what the North calls a “gun-first” philosophy. The doctrine holds that revolution is initiated, advanced and completed through armed force.

Within this framework, a leader’s weapon represents authority. Passing it to the next generation forms part of a narrative in which power itself is transferred. Some analysts see the recent imagery as a signal that Kim Ju Ae could be a potential successor. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said March 12 it believes she has entered a stage of being considered for succession.

Questions remain. It is unclear why Kim Jong Un would elevate a 13-year-old as a potential heir at this stage. In most cases, succession planning becomes clearer when a child is older. There is also uncertainty over whether Kim Jong Un has a son. The National Intelligence Service said Ri Sol Ju gave birth in February 2017, but the child’s gender has not been disclosed.

One detail has drawn attention. Beginning in February 2018, North Korean media changed how they referred to Ri, from “comrade” to “madam,” a rarely used title.

Historically, that honorific has been applied to only a few figures, including Kang Pan Sok, the mother of Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Suk, the mother of Kim Jong Il, both portrayed as central to the continuation of the ruling family’s lineage.

If Ri did give birth to a son, the child would now be about 9 years old, roughly the age Kim Ju Ae was when she first appeared in public. That raises further questions about the role being shaped for her.

There are no clear answers. For many North Koreans, repeated images of a young girl in a leather coat handling weapons may reinforce the idea of a future leader. Whether Kim Ju Ae will ultimately assume that role remains uncertain.