North Korea: In the party journal emphasizes the significance of choosing the leader’s successor

North Korea: In March of last year, just before leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Ju-ae, returned to public life after a temporary absence, a North Korean party magazine emphasized the significance of choosing the state leader’s successor.

The release has drawn attention because it could have been intended to pave the way for the ruling family’s third hereditary transfer of power amid rumors that Ju-ae is being prepared as Kim’s possible successor. In the March edition of Geunroja, a magazine for party officials that translates to “workers” in Korean, the “issue of designating a successor to inherit the status and role of the political head and establishing (the designee’s) leadership” was brought up. Yonhap News Agency was able to receive the issue on Thursday.

Although Ju-ae was not mentioned, the magazine—a major party periodical meant to indoctrinate officials and promote policies—described the matter as crucial to managing the nation’s leadership succession.

A key component of resolving the succession question was building the successor’s leadership while the head of state is still alive, as well as choosing a successor based on the respect and confidence of the populace and the party’s collective desire.

In reference to the handover of power from the late leader Kim Jong-il to the current leader and his son, Kim Jong-un, the magazine further emphasized the significance of fostering party and worker devotion to the successor and stifling any criticism against the successor’s monolithic rule.

It claimed that early on, Kim Jong-il focused on preparing Kim Jong-un as his successor and made “enormous” efforts to do so. It also called on the party and its officials to work together on succession-related matters.

The March release was made one month before the adolescent Ju-ae, who had been out of the spotlight for almost three months, was seen in North Korean media going with her father to an official inspection of a building site in Pyongyang.

For the first time, Ju-ae and her father visited the family mausoleum, the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, on New Year’s Day to honor the late North Korean leaders and her ancestors. Her appearance at the tomb has reignited rumors that she is Kim’s heir apparent.

Whenever she is addressed in official media, North Korea refers to her as Kim’s cherished daughter rather than formally naming Kim’s heir.