North Korean state media has never published the name of Kim Jong-un's daughter, referring to her only as his "respected" or "most beloved" child.
South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday it believes the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is close to being appointed as the country's next leader as he seeks to extend the family dynasty into a fourth generation.
The assessment by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) comes as North Korea prepares to hold its largest political conference later this month, where Kim is expected to outline his main political goals for the next five years.
In a closed-door briefing, NIS officials said they are closely monitoring whether Kim's daughter, believed to be Kim Ju-ae and about 13 years old, will appear with him in front of thousands of delegates at the upcoming Workers' Party Congress, said lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the meeting.
First seen in public at a long-range missile test in November 2022, Kim Ju-ae has since accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings.
She traveled with him to Beijing last September for Kim's first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years, as part of a commemoration marking the end of World War II.
Speculation about her political future intensified last month when she joined her parents on a New Year's visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, a sacred family mausoleum that displays the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather, the country's first and second-generation leaders.
Some experts saw the visit as the clearest sign yet that she is in the right position to become her 42-year-old father's heir.
South Korean officials initially expressed doubts that she could be elected as North Korea's leader, citing the country's deeply conservative culture and tradition of male-dominated leadership.
But her increasingly prominent appearances in state media have prompted a reassessment.
In its previous report on Kim Ju-ae's status in September, the NIS told lawmakers that Kim Jong-un's decision to take her with him on his trip to China was probably part of an effort to build a "narrative" that would perhaps pave the way for her legacy.
"In the past, (NIS) described Kim Ju-ae as being in the midst of 'successor training.' What stands out today is that they used the term 'designated successor stage,' a quite significant change," Lee said.
