Reflections | As Kim Jong-un grooms daughter to rule, a Chinese princess whose ambition backfired

Her public profile has risen steadily. She first drew attention at a long-range missile test in 2022 and has since appeared beside her father at military parades, weapons inspections and diplomatic engagements, including a high-profile visit to Beijing in 2025.

This year, her presence with her parents at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun – the mausoleum of her grandfather and great-grandfather, North Korea’s founding leaders – intensified speculation that she is being groomed for succession. Pyongyang has never formally named an heir, but symbolism in the secretive regime is rarely accidental.

Were she to inherit power, she would not be the first woman to stand at the apex of an East Asian state, but history offers few precedents.