Analysis indicates that Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and rumored to be his successor, has appeared on North Korean Central TV for over 600 days since her first appearance in November 2022, three years ago.

Kim Jong-un with his daughter during the Hwasong-17 missile test launch. KCNA=Yonhap News

The Nikkei Shimbun reported on the 25th that an AI-based facial recognition program analyzed 14,115 hours of footage from Korean Central TV, available on KCNAWatch.org, operated by Korea Risk Group. The analysis revealed that Kim Ju-ae's image was visible on more than 600 days over the past three years since November 2022.

This year, in particular, Kim Ju-ae has been featured on Korean Central TV for more than 24 days each month.

While the broadcast time itself is not comparable to that of Chairman Kim, the number of broadcast days is approaching that of the Chairman.

Most of these TV appearances are propaganda videos combining music and images, showing the daughter alongside captions referring to Chairman Kim as the 'Great Leader.'

In response, Tomohiko Kawaguchi, a professor at Nihon University, stated, "This is a production that implies she is the successor," adding, "It is imprinting the existence of the daughter on the public."

The Nikkei's analysis of Korean Central TV footage over the past three years omits 22 days of broadcasts. The Nikkei also reported that an investigation, including extracting the term 'daughter' from approximately 6,500 pages of the North Korean Workers' Party newspaper 'Rodong Sinmun,' revealed that Kim Jong-un's daughter first appeared on November 19, 2022, and most reports concerning Ju-ae were published on the front page.

Yonhap News