Kim Jong Un has revealed two more members of his family to the world – and one of them could be North Korea’s next leader.
His niece and nephew walked hand in hand with their mother, Kim Yo-jong – the tyrant’s sister – during the New Year’s Eve party in Pyongyang.
Until now, the leader’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, has been the only member of her generation in the public eye, fueling speculation that she would be the next leader.
But patriarchal North Korea has never had a female leader, and now experts are wondering whether the cousin – the only known man of his generation – could be the true heir.
Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, said the role could only be filled by someone from the bloodline of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder.
He said, “From this event, we know without a doubt that Kim Yo-jong has a son.
“This means that she has produced a legitimate male heir to Mount Paektu’s revolutionary leadership, Kim Il-sung.
“We don’t do that if Kim Jong-un actually has a son and there is no credible information available to establish that he does.”
Pictured: Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister, walking with his niece and nephew during the New Year’s Eve party in Pyongyang
Pictured: Jong-un with his daughter Kim Ju-ae during New Year’s celebrations in North Korea
“But Kim Yo-jong has a son who, given his family lineage, is certainly a credible candidate for succession in North Korea.
“It belies the perception that Kim Ju-ae is a hereditary successor.”
North Korea’s ruling family has always been shrouded in secrecy, and analysts often rely on regime propaganda to confirm the existence of its members.
New Year’s Eve therefore offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes.
Madden said the annual extravaganza “has become a family event where North Korean elites bring their wives or children.”
And he had no doubt that it was a conscious decision to debut the niece and nephew.
He said: ‘With a regime and state media like North Korea, we only see what they show us.’
Kim Jong-un is rumored to have two more children, including a son, but they have never been in the public eye.
In the boy’s case, a spy master in neighboring South Korea claimed it was because he was too “pale and thin” for North Korean tastes.
Mr Madden said the annual extravaganza had become ‘a family event where the North Korean elites bring their wives or their children’ – Kim Yo-jong, sister of Kim Jong-un, walking with his niece and nephew
One media outlet in South Korea, NK News, even suggested that the two children at the New Year’s Eve celebration could be Kim Jong Un’s other children, but admitted this was “less likely.”
The duo were not seen again on TV, and Kim Yo-jong was later spotted in the royal box, apparently without them.
Anyway, the leader was accompanied only by his daughter for the occasion.
And Mr Madden claims she is still her father’s most likely successor.
He said: “I still think Kim Ju-ae is the frontrunner and there is certainly room for a female leader of North Korea.
“But with Kim Yo-jong’s children, we have at least two more individuals who will become top elites and future high-ranking officials in the North Korean regime.
“So the regime is indicating that these are future North Korean elites.”
Mr Madden – a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington DC – said Pyongyang was also sending a message to the next US president, Donald Trump.
He said: “In 2018, Kim Jong Un told former South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he was a husband and father and would do nothing to bring about nuclear destruction on the Korean Peninsula.
“So by bringing her own children to a public event, Kim Yo-jong may be subtly reiterating that point to outside observers – including the Trump administration in the US and the next leadership in South Korea.”
He added: “In a general context, bringing her children out is part of normalizing the North Korean regime.
“In this way, it becomes less opaque, less mysterious and relatively transparent, and reduces the world’s median perception that North Korean political culture is quixotic and weird.
“Kim Yo-jong is one of the key drivers and advisors in this long-term process of turning North Korea into a more traditional authoritarian regime.”
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) is now trying to verify the relationship between Kim Yo-jong and the children.
“We are conducting a detailed analysis and keeping the option open,” it said in a statement.
NOS has previously suggested that Kim Yo-jong may have children, whose suspected ages match those of the children captured on camera.