A few hours ago, the grand military parade took place (at the crack of dawn) in Beijing under the gaze of Shi Jinping, who paid tribute to those who fought in World War II.

The Chinese president was joined by other major leaders, including Bladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.

But what stood out was the presence of a teenage girl at the side of the North Korean strongman, which raised many questions about her identity. It was Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju E.

Kim Jong-un’s beloved child

More specifically, according to Agence France-Presse, although little is known about her, she could be the next leader of North Korea.

Joo E was first seen in public in 2022, accompanying her father on a rocket launch.

However, it was former NBA star and friend of the North Korean leader, Dennis Rodman, who had revealed that Kim Jong Un had a daughter.

Kim had reportedly introduced him to his wife and a child, telling him, “there’s my daughter” during Rodman’s 2013 visit to Pyongyang.

North Korean media have never revealed her name, but have described her as a “loved child” and “honorable“.

South Korean intelligence agencies claim she is Joo E, the daughter of Kim Jong Un and his wife, the first singing star and first lady Ri Sol Joo, whom he married in 2009.

In recent appearances, she can be seen walking next to her father and in front of her aunt, Kim Yeo-jong, and her mother.

Joo E has been drawing the spotlight on herself with her style, wearing Gucci sunglasses and Cartier watches while mimicking her father’s look in leather jackets.

Debuting on the international stage

Accompanying her father to Beijing, Joo E “made her official debut in a way to the outside world,” underlines Yang Mu-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

But the academic points out that Ju E has already “participated in military and diplomatic events, notably a reception at the Russian embassy.”

This transition from the national to the international stage may mark “the last stage to succession,” he adds.

If Ju E succeeds Kim Jong Un, she will be the first woman to lead the country since its founding in 1948.

Experts believe it is a maneuver by the Kim family to showcase Joo E.

“This is not just a family trip, but in fact a ‘entrance onto the stage as a successor‘,” according to Lim El-sul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.

In the past, he argues, “we have seen heirs generally consolidate their position by going to China or participating in international events to gain legitimacy from the socialist powers.”

The professor cites as an example the meeting between Kim Jong Il, who was to succeed Kim Il Sung, and Xi Zhongshun, father of Xi Jinping, in 1983 in Beijing.

“Joo E’s case is part of that trajectory,” he adds.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) first acknowledged in 2024 that Ju E may be the heir to the regime.

“According to an analysis of Kim Joo E’s public appearances and the level of protocol she has been given, she currently appears to be the most likely successor,” Cho Tae-yong, then head of the agency, had said.

Cheong Seong-chung of Seoul’s Sejong Institute recounted that “during a military parade, Joo E’s white horse had appeared in second place after Kim Jong Un’s.”

“It is a proof” that she will succeed him, according to him, as is the fact that Pyongyang “issued stamps depicting the father-daughter pair”.