The appearances of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter, Ju-ae, at the centre of recent public events appear aimed at projecting socialist imagery that portrays society as one great family, a Seoul official said on Tuesday. An official at the unification ministry in Seoul made the assessment after Kim's teenage daughter captured headlines by appearing at back-to-back public events alongside her father, reports Yonhap news agency.
Photos carried by state media showed Ju-ae standing at the centre of the front row between her parents as they, accompanied by rows of officials, visited the family mausoleum to pay tribute to the former leaders on New Year's Day. The images rekindled long-brewing speculation that Ju-ae may be being groomed as Kim's heir apparent.
Again on Tuesday, Ju-ae was seen in North Korean media joining Kim and other officials at a ceremony the previous day to plant trees for a memorial museum in Pyongyang commemorating North Korean soldiers killed while fighting for Russia in the war with Ukraine.
The unification ministry official said the focus of North Korea's recent exposure of Ju-ae is likely on stressing "socialist great family" imagery rather than on leadership succession. The socialist great family concept is a propaganda theme used by the North Korean regime to drum up social unity and loyalty by portraying the leadership as the parents and the people as children.
"The recent trend appears to focus on emphasising family characteristics, or the so-called socialist great family, rather than any aspects of the succession structure," the official told reporters. The official cited the accompaniment of Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, at the mausoleum as grounds for the assessment.
It would have been more natural for Ju-ae to be placed behind Kim during the mausoleum visit if the succession structure were being emphasised, according to sources.