Photos released today by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed Kim Ju-ae appearing alongside her parents and senior North Korean officials in the main hall of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun during a visit on 1/1.

"The participating members reaffirmed their ironclad determination to faithfully fulfill their responsibilities and duties on the front lines to realize the sacred cause for the eternal prosperity and development of the great Korean nation, as well as enhance the people's welfare, united in supporting the ideology and leadership of Kim Jong-un", KCNA reported on the visit.

Kim Ju-ae (in a brown dress) stands next to her father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, during her visit to Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on 1/1. *Photo: KCNA*.

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun is where the embalmed bodies of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un, and nation's founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-un's grandfather, are preserved. Kim Jong-il was born on 16/2/1942 and passed away on 17/12/2011. He led North Korea for 17 years, following the death of late leader Kim Il Sung on 8/7/1994.

This marks Kim Ju-ae's first public visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. Previously, she also appeared at KCNA's New Year's celebration event.

This is also the first time since 2023 that Kim Jong-un visited Kumsusan Palace for the New Year. Since assuming power in 2012, Kim Jong-un visited the Palace almost every New Year's Day, but skipped visits in 2018, 2024, and 2025.

Kim Ju-ae is one of Kim and Ri's three children. She is believed to have been born in 2012, the second daughter of the North Korean leader, according to South Korean intelligence. North Korea first publicly released images of Ju-ae in 11/2022, when Kim took his daughter to inspect an intercontinental ballistic missile launch site. Since then, Ju-ae has frequently appeared in state media, accompanying her father to important events, leading many to speculate she is a top candidate to succeed Kim.

Vu Hoang (AFP, Reuters, Chosun)