Kim Jong Un fuels succession buzz with daughter's matching leather jacket

Kim Jong Un fuels succession buzz with daughter's matching leather jacket The North Korean leader reaffirmed his authority this week at a rare meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party. But an appearance alongside his teenage daughter Kim Ju Ae could hint at succession plans. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a parade with his daughter in Pyongyang on Wednesday. Korean Central News Agency / via AP Share Add NBC News to Google Feb. 26, 2026, 7:01 AM EST By Stella Kim and Jennifer Jett Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 Does a family that dresses together, rule together? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , whose family has held an iron grip on the nuclear-armed state for decades, reaffirmed his authority this week at a rare meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party. But speculation is growing that he is grooming his teenage daughter to succeed him one day, fueled in part by their matching outfits at a military parade. The parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday capped the weeklong party congress, the first since 2021, and displayed North Korea’s growing military capabilities. State media photos released Thursday showed Kim, 42, and his daughter Kim Ju Ae standing with senior officials at a podium overlooking soldiers marching in formation. Kim and his daughter appeared in the same black leather jacket, which Kim often wears at public events. “When his young daughter is wearing the same symbolic attire, it’s hard to see it as a coincidence,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul, told NBC News. “It is more likely to be a deliberate move to tell the North Korean public that Kim Ju Ae is her father’s heir.” Kim Ju Ae is believed to be the second of Kim’s three children, though she is the only one who has been seen publicly. Since her first appearance in 2022, Kim — who is thought to be in her early teens — has made a number of high-profile appearances with her father, including at missile launches , New Year’...