North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on his arrival at a station in Beijing, China, on Tuesday. Kim Ju Ae is on the right in a black suit. (Photo: AP)As North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un disembarked from his green armoured train in Beijing, China, on Tuesday (September 2), many observers noticed a young girl walking behind him. This was Kim Ju Ae, the leader’s daughter, who was on her first public overseas trip with her father.Ju Ae’s surprise appearance in China has triggered speculation among analysts about why she was there and whether Kim could be preparing his future successor.Here is everything that is known about Kim Ju Ae.Who is Kim Ju Ae?Not much is known about Kim’s daughter, who first appeared in public in November 2022 with her father at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.The news about her existence came out in 2013 when former American basketball player Dennis Rodman inadvertently revealed that Kim had a “baby” daughter named Ju Ae, whom he said he held during his visit to Pyongyang.There are varying reports on her exact age or birth year. Analysts believe that she is currently around 12 years old, and is the middle child of Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, who reportedly have three kids.After her first appearance in 2022, Ju Ae was seen at multiple events the next year, including a military parade where she gazed out at rows of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the capital Pyongyang.Story continues below this adAlso in Explained | Kim Jong Un: A peek into his swanky, bulletproof trainAt the time, Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea, had told CNN, “By ostentatiously including his wife and daughter, Kim wants observers at home and abroad to see his family dynasty and the North Korean military as irrevocably linked.”Is Ju Ae the successor of Kim Jong Un?In 2024, South Korea’s intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), revealed that Ju Ae was being trained to succeed Kim one day. However, the agency noted there were “many variables” still in play, not least because of her father’s young age.Some experts have pointed to the way Ju Ae is covered in North Korean state media as a sign that she may have special status. She is described as the “respected” daughter of Kim. The adjective “respected” is reserved for the country’s most revered.However, others have remained sceptical. They have argued that taking Ju Ae to military events could be a PR exercise to show Kim as a “family man” or “fatherly” figure.Story continues below this adIn a 2024 interview with CNN, Jenny Town, senior fellow at the Stimson Center and director of the centre’s Korea Program, said that “it would make sense for Kim to use his daughter for that purpose instead of his sons, because Rodman had already revealed her existence to the world – whereas even less is known about her siblings, who can still grow up out of the limelight”.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Explained GlobalExpress Explained