{"id":54065,"date":"2023-02-17T17:42:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T08:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=54065"},"modified":"2023-02-17T17:50:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T08:50:21","slug":"it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#8217;s successor, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The debate over the successor to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim is heating up after Kim\u2019s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, attended a military parade on the 75<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> anniversary of the founding of the Korean People\u2019s Army (KPA) on Feb. 8.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the notable features of the military parade was the emergence of a new slogan about \u201cdefending the Mount Paektu Bloodline to the death.\u201d But rather than officially designating Kim Ju Ae as Kim Jong Un\u2019s successor, analysts say, the slogan was probably designed to underscore the permanence of Kim Jong Un\u2019s rule.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEW SLOGAN EMERGES FROM MILITARY PARADE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A video of the military parade that was broadcast on Korean Central Television on Feb. 9 showed North Korean soldiers chanting the slogans, \u201cSafeguard Kim Jong Un to the death! Defend the Mount Paektu Bloodline to the death!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second of those slogans has never been chanted at any previous military parades in North Korea, a matter that even drew attention from North Korean cadres. That means that this military parade served to show people inside North Korea that the KPA\u2019s duty of protection has been extended from the supreme leader to the Mount Paektu Bloodline as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis was a public revelation of the fact that the military, which is a pivotal force for propping up the North Korean regime, is playing a key role in guarding the succession to the fourth generation,\u201d said Oh Gyeong-seob, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Oh, the North Korean authorities made clear through this military parade that they mean to hand over power to the fourth generation of the Kim dynasty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other analysts say that this military parade was focused on underscoring the permanence of the North Korean regime in a broader sense than fourth-generation succession.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cKim Jong Un\u2019s recent actions and official documents published in North Korea keep emphasizing the permanence of the single leader principle, which is something we hadn\u2019t seen before. The thrust is that the Mount Paektu Bloodline system, based on Kim Jong Un\u2019s family, will continue in the long term, and this military parade is part of that context,\u201d said an analyst on North Korea, who spoke to Daily NK on condition of anonymity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That emphasis was also evident in remarks that Kim made during a speech on a visit to the party\u2019s Central Cadres Training School in October 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe need to establish the demeanor and ethos of the Workers&#8217; Party that will last for a hundred years or a thousand years,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThe Workers&#8217; Party will raise up competent political workers and cadres to whom we can safely entrust affairs over the next 50 years, 100 years and centuries to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>TOO SOON TO BE SURE ABOUT SUCCESSOR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless, the prevailing view among experts is that it is too soon to regard Kim Ju Ae as Kim\u2019s successor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cKim Ju Ae is only a figure who symbolizes the Mount Paektu Bloodline and succession to the fourth generation. It would not be appropriate to make judgements about whether or not she will be the successor based on her attendance at a string of recent events,\u201d Oh said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cKim Ju Ae\u2019s appearance at events related to North Korea\u2019s nuclear program has greatly increased external interest in the North Korean regime. From North Korea\u2019s point of view, Kim Ju Ae has been a fantastic promotional model as it emphasizes once more to the outside world that it will never abandon its nuclear program for the sake of its future generation,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Oh\u2019s opinion, Kim Ju Ae\u2019s appearance at nuclear-related events is supposed to reveal to both domestic and international audiences that North Korea is a nuclear weapon state in both word and deed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Questions have also been raised about why Kim Jong Un would have put the spotlight on Kim Ju Ae \u2014 who is neither his firstborn nor a son \u2014 if he has started laying the foundation for continuing dynastic rule.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGiven the absolute authority of the ruler in North Korea, the crucial criterion for disclosing matters related to the succession is whether or not they will benefit the ruling system,\u201d said Kim In-tae, a senior analyst at South Korea&#8217;s Institute for National Security Strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGiven that [efforts to promote] the cult of personality around leader Kim Jong Un is currently underway, Kim Ju Ae is being used as a symbol of future generations, rather than being [designated as] the successor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20230214-4\/\"><i>Read in Korean<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The debate over the successor to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim is heating up after Kim\u2019s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, attended a military parade on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People\u2019s Army (KPA) on Feb. 8. One of the notable features of the military parade was the emergence of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":54068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,681],"tags":[1031,1656],"class_list":["post-54065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-succession","tag-dprk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>It&#039;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#039;s successor, experts say - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It&#039;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#039;s successor, experts say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The debate over the successor to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim is heating up after Kim\u2019s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, attended a military parade on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People\u2019s Army (KPA) on Feb. 8. One of the notable features of the military parade was the emergence of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-17T08:42:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-17T08:50:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"741\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\"},\"headline\":\"It&#8217;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#8217;s successor, experts say\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-17T08:42:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-17T08:50:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":795,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"succession\",\"dprk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/\",\"name\":\"It's too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un's successor, experts say - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-17T08:42:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-17T08:50:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg\",\"width\":741,\"height\":494,\"caption\":\"In this picture published by state-run media on February 9, the Kim family can be seen walking together. (Rodong Sinmun-News 1)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It&#8217;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#8217;s successor, experts say\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily NK English\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Daily NK English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"description\":\"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\",\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"caption\":\"Seulkee Jang\"},\"description\":\"Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK's full-time reporters and covers North Korean economic and diplomatic issues, including workers dispatched abroad. Jang has a M.A. in Sociology from University of North Korean Studies and a B.A. in Sociology from Yonsei University. She can be reached at skjang(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/jang-seul-gi\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It's too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un's successor, experts say - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It's too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un's successor, experts say","og_description":"The debate over the successor to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim is heating up after Kim\u2019s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, attended a military parade on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People\u2019s Army (KPA) on Feb. 8. One of the notable features of the military parade was the emergence of [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2023-02-17T08:42:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-17T08:50:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":741,"height":494,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Seulkee Jang","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Seulkee Jang","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/"},"author":{"name":"Seulkee Jang","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857"},"headline":"It&#8217;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#8217;s successor, experts say","datePublished":"2023-02-17T08:42:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-17T08:50:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/"},"wordCount":795,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg","keywords":["succession","dprk"],"articleSection":["News","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/","name":"It's too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un's successor, experts say - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-17T08:42:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-17T08:50:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/20230209_hya_\uae40\uc8fc\uc560-\uae40\uc815\uc740.jpg","width":741,"height":494,"caption":"In this picture published by state-run media on February 9, the Kim family can be seen walking together. (Rodong Sinmun-News 1)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/it-too-soon-be-sure-about-kim-jong-un-successor-experts-say\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It&#8217;s too soon to be sure about Kim Jong Un&#8217;s successor, experts say"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization","name":"Daily NK English","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","width":272,"height":90,"caption":"Daily NK English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"description":"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.","email":"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net","telephone":"82-2-732-6998","legalName":"DailyNK","foundingDate":"2004-12-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857","name":"Seulkee Jang","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","caption":"Seulkee Jang"},"description":"Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK's full-time reporters and covers North Korean economic and diplomatic issues, including workers dispatched abroad. Jang has a M.A. in Sociology from University of North Korean Studies and a B.A. in Sociology from Yonsei University. She can be reached at skjang(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/jang-seul-gi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54065"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54069,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54065\/revisions\/54069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}