N Korea’s Kim Ju Ae ‘likely successor’

South Korea's spy agency said yesterday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's daughter, Ju Ae, who recently accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognised successor.

The teenager drew global attention earlier this month when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Analysts have long seen her as Kim's likely successor, although some have suggested Ju Ae has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader.

South Korea's spy agency "assesses that she (Ju Ae) secured sufficient 'revolutionary narrative' needed to strengthen her position as a likely successor," following her China trip, lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after being briefed by the agency.