Earlier this year, 13-year-old Kim Ju-Ae, the daughter of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, began appearing in public more frequently with her father. Broadcast live on North Korean state television, she was seen accompanying him during ballistic missile launches, rifle firing drills and just a week ago, riding a tank.
As the heir of her family, it is almost certain Ju-Ae will succeed her father as the next leader of North Korea. In fact, this February, the South Korean National Intelligence Service reported that she is preparing to take over the throne.
This appointment would mark the fourth generation of Kim rule, a dynasty that has lasted longer than the People’s Republic of China. These 76 years of hereditary dictatorship have been devastating for North Korea. Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, isolated the country through Juche policy. Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong Un’s father, oversaw the worst famine in North Korean history, killing over 3.5 million people. And Kim has executed over 400 officials during his rule, including his brother, according to CNN.
Installing Kim Ju-Ae guarantees that this irresponsible and brutal leadership continues for another generation.
The fundamental issue is that she has no qualifications to run a country in crisis. Kim Ju-Ae is 13 years old. Her entire political experience consists of staged public appearances to build a profile. She has never governed a province, negotiated a treaty or made important decisions.
Even if she doesn’t succeed her father for another decade, Ju-Aeshe will not have the education and experiences necessary to run a country of 26 million. When Kim Jong Il, her grandfather, assumed power in 1994, he had spent two decades working through party structures in propaganda, security and military oversight. On the other hand, ifIf Kim Ju-Ae is appointed, the heredity system of North Korea will continue to prioritize bloodline over competence.
North Korea’s current situation demands expertise. The country’s GDP is stagnating at $1,300 per capita, making it one of the poorest nations worldwide despite boasting a nuclear arsenal. Under international sanctions, the economy has contracted every year since 2016. On top of that, the average North Korean lives 12 years less than their South Korean counterpart. Dealing with North Korea’s challenges of economic collapse, isolation and stagnation requires someone with a sophisticated understanding of geopolitics and a willingness to negotiate. Ju-Ae, a pampered child living entirely within the most insular dictatorship on earth is unlikely to provide either.
Events in Syria already offer a cautionary warning. When Bashar Al-Assad inherited Syria’s presidency following his father’s death in 2000, he was an ophthalmologist with minimal political training. The result was a ruler unable to unify a nation, ultimately leading to the escalation of a civil war that killed over 500,000 people.
Ju-Ae’s succession also creates dangerous power struggles. Installing inexperienced leaders in authoritarian systems creates opportunities for power that seasoned officials often exploit. When Kim Jong Un took power at 27, twice Kim Ju-Ae’s current age, he still faced internal resistance. He responded by executing his uncle Jang Song-thaek and purging dozens of officials to solidify his power.
Kim Ju-Ae will be even younger, less experienced and more vulnerable. Party officials, including Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, certainly won’t yield for a teenager—bloodline or not. The resulting internal power conflict would further destabilize the nation.
Additionally, Ju-Ae’s appointment will waste North Korea’s best opportunity for reform in years. For example, when Mao Zedong ended his grip on China in 1976, his successor Deng Xiaoping launched the “Reform and Opening Up” campaign, which modernized the Chinese economy. His reforms lifted over 800 million people out of poverty while still maintaining one-party rule.
However, Kim Ju-Ae cannot lead such reforms. She is being educated entirely within North Korea’s closed system, which promotes the Kim family’s leadership strategy. Unlike her father, who at least studied in Switzerland in his childhood, Kim Ju-Ae has received no reported foreign education.
More importantly, she cannot implement reforms without destroying her own family’s legitimacy. Admitting that the Juche ideology has failed, and that North Korea needs to learn from market economies, all undermines her succession. A non-heredity leader can easily blame failed policies on predecessors and make reforms, as China did. Kim Ju Ae cannot. Her legitimacy as a ruler derives from the idea that her family’s ideology is infallible.
Some argue that Kim Ju-Ae would merely serve as a figurehead while more experienced officials govern. This misses the point. Figurehead leaders create a power vacuum where Ju-Ae would certainly feel entitled to rule due to her bloodline, creating political instability. And symbolically, her succession legitimizes hereditary dictatorship, making it difficult for North Korea to move on from a dictatorship.
Others claim that criticism is meaningless because, inevitably, Kim Ju-Ae will be installed regardless of international opinion. True—North Korea rarely makes changes due to external pressure alone. But international advocacy still matters. Countries should collectively refuse to recognize her legitimacy and support alternatives to dynastic succession, sending a clear message that hereditary dictatorship is unacceptable in the 21st century.
Of course, North Korea will certainly not shift to a democracy in the foreseeable future. Instead, the nation couldneeds to switch to collective leadership, with a governing council consisting of experienced party leaders, military officials, and experts. Currently, North Korea’s cabinet, or the Supreme People’s Assembly, exists but holds no true governing power. A revised cabinet could be responsible for would managinge economic policy, domestic affairs, and other sectors which it has been stripped of authority in under Kim’s rule.
Even if this isn’t achievable, the regime should at least consider appointing individuals with real qualifications. North Korea can still choose authoritarian leaders while prioritizing capability over bloodline. A dictator who understands economics is less dangerous than one who doesn’t. This isn’t democracy, but it is undoubtedly better than installing Kim Ju-Ae as leader.
The real tragedy of Ju-Ae’s successionhere is that 26 million North Koreans will get another leader that they didn’t have any voice in selecting. North Korea’s future can take on a more hopeful trajectory if the country depends on a leader chosen with competency in mind — not genetics. Until that fundamental change occurs, the North Korean crisis will only deepen.
