More on the debate on North Korean succession. In South Korea, and elsewhere, there's been speculation that Kim Jong-un's eldest daughter Ju-ae is being lined up to succeed him, as she's now seen regularly on public outings with Dad. I'm inclined to doubt this, considering the patriarchal nature of North Korean society and the power of the male Kim lineage.
Here's the latest from the Daily NK - High-ranking N. Korean officials question whether Kim Ju Ae could succeed her father:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, has recently been making repeated appearances at major military events, which has led to rumors that the young girl will succeed her father as leader of the country in the future. However, high-ranking officials in North Korea say that it is “impossible” for Kim Ju Ae to become her father’s successor.
Upon being told that some analysts in South Korea believe that Kim Ju Ae will be the successor to her father, a high-ranking source in North Korea told Daily NK on Nov. 11 that “I don’t understand why they say that. If you let a woman take power in the fourth generation, the last name of the fifth-generation leader will be different. That doesn’t make sense. When you name a successor, you think of the future. Succession is establishing the fourth generation to serve as a basis for the fifth generation.”
In short, the source argued that Kim Ju Ae’s descendants would have a family name other than Kim, a family name associated with the country’s so-called Paekdu Bloodline, and that this would make a fifth generation succession impossible to achieve. The source’s argument puts on display the power of patriarchal beliefs in North Korean society; namely, that children must take their father’s last name and only sons may become successors to keep familial lines going.
In fact, some analysts say that North Korea’s leadership is not putting Kim Ju Ae on display at major events to establish her as successor but rather as part of a strategy to intensify idolization of her father.
“The North Korean leadership hasn’t finished bolstering Kim Jong Un’s unitary leadership system,” an expert at a South Korean policy think tank told Daily NK, speaking on condition of anonymity. “North Korea’s leadership is focusing on intensifying efforts to idolize Kim Jong Un, not establishing a succession. Even during the recent Fifth National Conference of Mothers, the propaganda focused on highlighting [Kim Jong Un’s] image as a loving father of the Socialist Grand Family.”
In fact, after that conference ended, Rodong Sinmun focused on promoting Kim’s image as a wise, warm father, writing, “Everyone cried and cried again, saying there were no other hardworking fathers of the people like our Supreme Leader [Kim Jong Un].”
The expert’s argument suggests that the goal of the National Conference of Mothers was two-pronged: idolizing Kim Jong Un as the father of a great socialist family and using mothers to intensify ideological indoctrination at home to prevent young people from ideologically defecting from the regime. The expert essentially argues that the conference had nothing to do with the succession process....
Broadly speaking, a major reason Kim Jong Un has been taking his daughter to major military events is to justify his government’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Kim Ju Ae first appeared in North Korean media at the launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in November of last year. At the time, state-run media outlets ran several photos of the father and daughter walking hand-in-hand with the missile in the background, commenting that the elder Kim would continue to strengthen the country’s nuclear arsenal – the “powerful sword to protect peace” – in terms of quantity and quality to bring about the “bright smiles and beautiful dreams of future generations.”
Basically, state media aimed to present Kim Jong Un as the leader who developed nuclear weapons for the future generation, while his daughter was to be seen as a symbol of that future generation....
“With more than 85% of Kim Ju Ae’s activities focused on the military, our fundamental perception of North Korea’s advancement of its nuclear weapons and missiles is growing a bit blurred as we see it through the frame of succession,” Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) told Daily NK.
In short, Hong argues that some analysts are focusing on whether Kim Ju Ae will succeed her father rather than analyzing the fundamental reasons why the North Korean leadership is having her appear at test launches related to the country’s nuclear program.
“The North Korean government wants to dilute the provocative threat posed by the advancement of its nuclear weapons by shifting attention to Kim Ju Ae,” KINU’s Hong said. “As the debate over the succession continues, North Korea is likely to use the debate to sow confusion as part of its psychological warfare against South Korea and the United States.”
Talk of succession is a distraction, in other words. It's really aimed - this whole daughter-parading - at showing how the Kim dynasty is here to stay: protecting North Korean families for the future through the power of its nuclear weapons.
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