Daughter Kim's heir? Visit to mausoleum sparks buzz

The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made her first known visit to a sacred family mausoleum, a step that experts say bolstered her status as her father's potential heir. The visit, which occurred on New Year's Day, even sparked speculation that the girl, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about 13, could be named a high-level official at the upcoming ruling Workers' Party congress.

Images carried by the state media on Friday showed Kim Ju Ae standing in the front row with her parents and deeply bowing at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, where the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather are on display. The palace is "a place that symbolises legitimacy of the North Korean regime" and her visit ahead of the Workers' Party congress is a politically orchestrated move, said Cheong Seong-Chang, deputy head of Sejong Institute in South Korea.

Kim Jong Un, 41, often marks key state anniversaries by visiting the Kumsusan palace and paying respect to his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.