Kim Jong-un's daughter being prepared as his successor, NIS chief says

The chief of South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is being groomed as his successor.

National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong attends an Intelligence Committee briefing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Monday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The chief of South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is being groomed as his successor.

In a briefing with members of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Cho Tae-yong said that the agency views Kim Ju-ae as a “likely potential heir” to Kim Jong-un, but that the regime “is monitoring North Korean opinion and adjusting her public exposure and propaganda [about her] accordingly while guiding her through public activities,” according to People Power Party Rep. Lee Seong-kweun and Democratic Party Rep. Park Sun-won, who attended the meeting.

The NIS chief told lawmakers on the committee that 60 percent of Kim Ju-ae’s official duties appeared to consist of attending military-related events, with “partial attendance” at economic activities.

In this photograph released by the North’s state-controlled Korea Central News Agency on May 15, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, attends the May 14 opening of a residential complex on Junwi Street, an area in the North Korean capital reserved for the regime’s ruling class, next to his daughter Kim Ju-ae. [YONHAP]

Cho said that the choice of Kim Jong-un’s successor appears to have been determined “to a considerable extent,” given the language used by state propaganda in reference to Kim Ju-ae, but added that it had “not ruled out the possibility of changes, considering that a brother could step up to the mantle and the fact that the succession has not yet been officially confirmed.”

The NIS chief also told lawmakers that it believes the 40-year-old North Korean leader currently weighs 140 kilograms (309 pounds) and that his body mass index (BMI) is in the mid-40s, far exceeding the average of 25 at his age.

Cho said the agency believes Kim Jong-un is at high risk for heart disease and that he began to show symptoms of high blood pressure and diabetes in his early 30s.

The spy chief added that Kim could develop cardiovascular disease, given his family history, if he does not take steps to improve the state of his health, which he attributed to stress, tobacco and alcohol.

In response to a question from reporters as to whether the North Korean regime is grooming Kim Ju-ae early to succeed her father due to his health, Lee said that the question of succession appears “totally unrelated” to his physical condition, noting that the NIS believes Pyongyang is currently searching for medication from abroad to treat Kim Jong-un’s physical ailments.

According to lawmakers, the NIS chief also said that the political fallout from allegations against Sue Mi Terry, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst who has been accused of being a South Korean agent, are likely to be minimal, and that information sharing between Seoul and Washington are only likely to “expand” after the controversy.

Cho told lawmakers that the case involving Terry “did not result in the leak of confidential information from the United States and did not jeopardize the alliance by collecting very important information,” noting that Terry “has only been accused of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and not of committing espionage.”

The NIS chief also told lawmakers that Washington “acknowledges Terry as a sound opinion leader and expert on the Korean Peninsula,” adding that it was contacted by U.S. authorities only after Terry had been indicted.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]