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Maria Siow

In the midst of all the media attention on Kim Jong-un’s young daughter Ju-ae, does anyone remember Kim Han-sol? After all, both are North Korean royalty and fourth generation scions of the Kim dynasty.
With more members of the Kim family tree making their presence felt, will the strife seen over the last three generations continue?
In recent days, Ju-ae, who is believed to be about nine years old, was photographed at two separate high-profile events, sparking speculation she may be her father’s potential successor.


In contrast, Han-sol, dubbed a “North Korean prince” by the New Yorker magazine in 2017, was last heard of in 2020 where he was said to have been taken into protective custody by the US’s Central Intelligence Agency.
The last time he was seen publicly was through a short video in 2019 that the Free Choseon activist group took of him thanking them for their help.
Currently living either in the United States or Europe, Han-sol is the nephew of Kim Jong-un. He earlier made his way from Macau to Taiwan before trying to board a plane to seek asylum in the Netherlands.
Han-sol, 27, had feared for his life then, after his father Jong-nam – the half-brother to Jong-un – was assassinated in 2017 on orders issued by Pyongyang. North Korea has denied responsibility for the killing.

Jong-nam’s death in a high-profile nerve agent attack at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport was the latest in a series of discord among the Kim clan.
In 2013, Jong-un executed his uncle Jang Song-thaek, previously one of the country’s most powerful men, for plotting to overthrow the state, building his own personality cult, and involvement in economic corruption.
Married to Jong-un’s paternal aunt, Jang was denounced as a “traitor for all ages” and “despicable human scum”, and his headless body, according to former US President Donald Trump, was displayed to senior North Korean officials.
Upon taking office in 2011, Kim Jong-un also reportedly purged his father’s fourth wife and personal secretary Kim Ok, before sending her to a prison camp, according to South Korean media.
In 1998, Jong-il’s aunt – Ko Yong-suk and her family – defected from North Korea to seek asylum in the US, claiming they feared for their lives.
Jong-il, the former leader and Jong-un’s father, was said to have purged his half-brothers during his initial rise to power, most notably his half-brother Pyong-il who was considered a serious contender for the top leadership.
Kim’s sister appears at mass games amid rumours of purged officials
Pyong-il fell out of favour after Jong-il reported him for challenging the elder Kim’s personality cult, and was later dispatched to Europe where he remained for decades in various diplomatic positions.
As for the country’s founder Kim Il-sung, he had placed his younger brother Yong Ju in confinement for half a century following a power struggle with Jong-il.
Whether Ju-ae becomes the fourth-generation successor is too early to tell.
But it is worth bearing in mind that there are also at least five known members from the fourth generation – Han-sol and his sister Sol-hui, and Ju-ae and her two other siblings.
Many consider Han-sol, the eldest son born to the first child of his father’s generation – the rightful heir to the North Korean leadership.

Some North Korean experts have even identified Han-sol as a potential successor should the regime topple, especially in a country that places emphasis on what is referred to as the Paektu Bloodline.
In an interview with Finnish media in 2012, Han-sol openly criticised the regime, referring to his uncle as a “dictator” and saying that he wished to return to his homeland one day to “make things better”.
Whether he still believes in his youthful wish is immaterial as the internal political machinations in Pyongyang are beyond his control.
Barring sudden and unpredictable changes to the regime, North Korea’s opaque political system and its consolidation of personal and family power is expected to continue.
This means the question of succession will continue to be played out in internal power struggles, family betrayals and even deadly family rivalries involving the next generation of Kims.


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North Korea

North Korea: will family violence continue plaguing Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae and nephew Han-sol?

People at a railway station in Seoul watch a news programne displaying an image of a man claiming to be Kim Han-sol. Photo: AP 

A man identifying himself as Kim Han-sol speaks in an unknown location, in this undated video posted on YouTube by a group called Cheollima Civil Defense. Photo: Reuters/File

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died after suddenly becoming ill at Kuala Lumpur’s airport in 2017. Photo: AP/File

Kim Han Sol, son of Kim Jong-nam, the murdered elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: Kyodo/File

Is North Korea’s Kim Jong-un preparing his ‘most beloved’ daughter Ju-ae to be his successor?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un posing with his daughter, presumed to be his second child, Ju-ae, during a missile test. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter attend an alleged test of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo: KCNA/dpa

Kim Jong-un has made clear his sister Kim Yo-jong is his de facto No 2, what’s next for her?

Kim Yo-jong, top official and sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. Her latest promotion solidifies her position in Pyongyang's circles of power, analysts say. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file picture taken on April 27, 2018, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) signs the guest book next to his sister Kim Yo Jong (R) during the Inter-Korean summit with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in at the Peace House building on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom. - Sister, adviser, and now top official: the latest promotion of Kim Yo Jong, sibling to North Korea's leader, solidifies her position in Pyongyang's circles of power, analysts say. (Photo by Korea Summit Press Pool / Korea Summit Press Pool / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY NKorea-politics-people-KimYoJong by Claire LEE and Sunghee Hwang

(FILES) In this file picture taken on April 27, 2018, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (2nd R) walks with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (R), followed by Kim's sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong (2nd L), down a red carpet to the official summit Peace House building for their meeting at Panmunjom . - Sister, adviser, and now top official: the latest promotion of Kim Yo Jong, sibling to North Korea's leader, solidifies her position in Pyongyang's circles of power, analysts say. (Photo by Korea Summit Press Pool / Korea Summit Press Pool / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY NKorea-politics-people-KimYoJong by Claire LEE and Sunghee Hwang

US set for ‘disappointment’ as it seeks North Korea talks’ restart, Kim Jong-un’s sister says

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, pictured at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. Photo: AP

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, left, shakes hands with South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young during their meeting to discuss issues concerning North Korea, at the unification ministry, Tuesday, June 22, 2021, in Seoul, South Korea. Kim said he looks forward to Pyongyang giving a "positive response soon" to Washington's dialogue offer, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent remarks that Pyongyang should be ready for both dialogue and confrontation. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool Photo via AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife Ri Sol-ju reappears after year-long absence

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju watch a performance marking the birth anniversary of Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on February 16, 2021. Photo: KCNA via AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju watch a performance that commemorated the Day of the Shining Star, the birth anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong Il at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang, North Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2021. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA.

Ri Sol-ju and Kim Jong-un watch a performance marking the birthday of former leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang. Photo: AP

Will North Korea try to assassinate Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah, the Vietnamese and Indonesian linked to Kim Jong-nam’s murder?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AFP

epa05804924 A South Korean watches a TV news report allegedly showing the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam at the airport of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at an office in Seoul, South Korea, 20 February 2017. According to reports, the North Korean embassy in Malaysia asked Malaysian authorities to hand over the body of 46-year-old North Korean named Kim Chol, who was allegedly assassinated at Kuala Lumpur's international airport in Malaysia on 13 February and whose body has been kept at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital since the incident. Media reports state that Kim Chol, an alias apparently used by Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was attacked by two women with chemical sprays. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong leaves Shah Alam High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Monday, April 1, 2019. The murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother at an airport in Malaysia was brazen, intricately orchestrated and, thanks to scores of security cameras, witnessed by millions around the world. The real masterminds behind the killing, however, may never be brought to justice.(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A man, who identified himself as Kim Han Sol, speaks in an unknown location, in this undated video posted on YouTube by a group called Cheollima Civil Defense. An official at South Korea's National Intelligence Service said the man in the video is the 21-year-old son of Kim Jong Nam, who was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, 2017 by assassins who Malaysian police say used a super-toxic nerve agent. Reuters could not independently verify the video. But the man closely resembled Kim Han Sol, who was last interviewed on camera in 2012 by former Finnish defense minister Elisabeth Rehn. Cheollima Civil Defense via YouTube/via Reuters TV. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. VIDEO WATERMARKED AT SOURCE. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

FILE - In this June 4, 2010, file photo, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, waves after his first-ever interview with South Korean media in Macau. The murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother at an airport in Malaysia was brazen, intricately orchestrated and, thanks to scores of security cameras, witnessed by millions around the world. The real masterminds behind the killing, however, may never be brought to justice. (Shin In-seop/JoongAng Ilbo via AP, File)

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Media has speculated that Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Ju-ae, is next in line to lead the country following her recent public appearances
But the North Korean leader’s nephew, Han-sol, also has a claim to lead the Kim dynasty being the first child of Kim Jong-il’s eldest son



Media has speculated that Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Ju-ae is next in line to lead the country following her recent public appearances, but the North Korean leader’s nephew, Han-sol also has a claim to lead the Kim dynasty.


Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-nam

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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As I see it

As I see it | North Korea: will family violence continue plaguing Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae and nephew Han-sol?

Media has speculated that Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Ju-ae, is next in line to lead the country following her recent public appearances But the North Korean leader’s nephew, Han-sol, also has a claim to lead the Kim dynasty being the first child of Kim Jong-il’s eldest son

Media has speculated that Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Ju-ae, is next in line to lead the country following her recent public appearances

But the North Korean leader’s nephew, Han-sol, also has a claim to lead the Kim dynasty being the first child of Kim Jong-il’s eldest son