N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with wife, daughter on Thursday

김주애, '선대수령 안치' 금수산궁전 첫 참배… 김정은과 동행 North Korea's Kim Jong-un marked the new year with a visit to his family mausoleum accompanied by his wife and daughter whose presence there has sparked fresh speculation about a power succession. Our Kim Bo-kyoung reports. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the first day of 2026. This, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday. What's notable, was that Kim's daughter Kim Ju-ae appeared publicly for the first time at a visit to the family mausoleum. The media did not directly mention Ju-ae’s attendance, but the photos released showed Kim Jong-un, his wife Ri Sol-ju, and their daughter Ju-ae standing together in the very front row, with Ju-ae positioned at the center. They were accompanied by key party and government officials, and the KCNA reported that all visitors made a firm pledge to fulfill their responsibilities and duties at the forefront of the sacred cause of realizing the eternal prosperity and development of the regime, and its people's well-being. The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of past leaders Kim Jong-un's late father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung, are enshrined, is a symbol in North Korea of the legitimacy of the regime. Since coming to power in 2012, Kim Jong-un has visited the palace on New Year’s Day almost every year, but he skipped the visit in 2018, as well as in 2024 and 2025, making the visit alongside his daughter all the more surprising. One expert says this clearly is a political signal related to leadership succession. "Appearing at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and standing even more centrally than her father, clearly signals her status as a potential successor. It goes beyond a symbolic family role and represents a political message, publicly showing that she is being presented as the next leader who carries on the legacy of past rulers." As Ju-ae is still so young, it is unlikely she will be given an official title at the Ninth Party Congress expected to take place in January, but the expert says her appearance there could itself be seen as a strong signal that she is being presented as a successor in preparation. Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News. #NorthKorea #KimJongun #KimJuae #Kumsusan_Palace_of_the_Sun #북한 #김정은 #김주애 #금수산_태양_궁전 #참배 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Twitter :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Homepage : https://v2.arirang.com/ 2026-01-02, 17:00 (KST)