Kim Jong-Un's daughter being groomed as successor: lawmakers

Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter, Ju-ae, is being groomed to succeed her father, though the selection is not final and he could ultimately choose someone else, two lawmakers quoted South Korea's spy agency as saying Monday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the report to the parliamentary intelligence committee, saying North Korea has suggested Ju-ae is a strong candidate to succeed her father by adjusting the frequency of her public appearances to gauge public sentiment, Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party and Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party said during a press briefing.

The NIS said it determined that Ju-ae is being groomed as Kim's successor by studying the appellations North Korea uses to refer to her, how frequently she has appeared in public and at which events, according to the lawmakers, reported Yonhap news agency.

The NIS said in the past, around 60 percent of Ju-ae's public activities involved accompanying her father to military events with some others economy-related, but North Korea's use of the word "hyangdo," which translates as "guide," in reference to her suggested she was on the path to becoming the next leader.

The word "hyangdo" means to light the path forward in a revolutionary fight and is used for leaders or their successors, Lee explained.

Still, the NIS said it does not rule out the possibility Kim will choose someone else as his next-in-line, given his other children could step forward or that North Korea has not finalized who the successor will be.

Meanwhile, the North Korean leader appears to have health issues, weighing 140 kilograms and at high risk of heart disease, likely due to stress, smoking and drinking, the NIS was quoted as saying.

Kim is believed to have shown systems of high blood pressure and diabetes since his early 30s, it said.

The NIS further reported signs Kim is looking for alternative medicinal substances, leading to speculation he could have conditions that are difficult to deal with using his current medicine.

On the pace of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development, the NIS counted a total of 48 missiles being launched on 14 occasions this year, according to Lee, reported Yonhap.

The spy agency also reported a total of some 3,600 trash-filled balloons launched toward South Korea this year, which the North has claimed is retaliation for South Korean activists sending propaganda leaflets across the border.

Since last month's summit between North Korean leader Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two countries have been speeding up the implementation of follow-up measures especially in the military and economic fields, the NIS was quoted as saying.

For example, Russia has sent a military delegation and its top prosecutor to the North, while more than 300 Russian tourists have visited the North's border city of Rason following the resumption of tours previously suspended due to COVID-19.

The NIS also dismissed concerns that the recent indictment of Sue Mi Terry, a renowned Korean American foreign policy expert, could hurt the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

Terry was indicted this month on charges of acting as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government from 2013 until last year.

"There are no major problems in intelligence cooperation between South Korea and the U.S., and in fact, it is only expanding," the NIS was quoted as saying. "There are no problems at all in security cooperation."

Terry's case has started discussions in South Korea about the need to create a law that punishes people for divulging state secrets and other sensitive information to foreign countries.

Current espionage laws only punish the act of transferring state secrets to "enemy countries."

During the parliamentary session, the NIS explained the need to legislate a law similar to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which Terry is accused of conspiring to violate.

NIS Director Cho Tae-yong, who was present at the session, said his agency plans to push for revisions to the criminal code to create a FARA-like law and expand the scope of punishable people under espionage laws.