The National Intelligence Service (NIS) presented its findings during a closed-door parliamentary session, with lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties saying the agency’s conclusion was based on collected intelligence rather than circumstantial inference.

Briefings indicated the imagery of Ju Ae operating military equipment was intended to project capability and address doubts surrounding the prospect of a female successor.

North Korea’s state-run KCNA last month released photographs showing Kim and his daughter driving a new tank, adding to earlier images of her participating in weapons training, including firing a rifle and handling a handgun. Lawmakers said the pattern of exposure suggested a deliberate effort to embed her within the country’s military narrative.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won said the public appearances echoed those of Kim Jong Un in the early 2010s, when he was being prepared to succeed his father, describing the imagery as a form of symbolic continuity in leadership grooming. The NIS assessment marks a progression from earlier evaluations that Ju Ae was being prepared for a future role, with her current prominence indicating a more accelerated succession framework.

Lawmakers have previously cited the agency as viewing Ju Ae as effectively the second-ranking figure in North Korea’s leadership hierarchy. People Power Party lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said the NIS dismissed suggestions that Kim Yo Jong might oppose the development, noting she does not exercise independent authority within the system.

Some analysts urged caution in interpreting the developments as definitive confirmation of succession. Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification said the available imagery alone did not establish that Ju Ae had been formally designated as heir, noting she continues to appear alongside her father rather than independently, unlike Kim Jong Un during his own transition period.

North Korea has not publicly confirmed any succession plan, and state media has not explicitly identified Ju Ae as a future leader.

The assembly convened its first session a day earlier, where delegates are expected to deliberate amendments to the socialist constitution and formalise leadership positions, including the chairmanship of the State Affairs Commission. The body, widely regarded as a rubber-stamp legislature, typically meets after major party congresses to translate ruling party decisions into state law.

The session will also review the country’s economic five-year plan announced at the ninth Workers’ Party Congress held in February, according to KCNA.

Attention has centred on whether Pyongyang will amend its constitution to codify Kim Jong Un’s “two hostile states” doctrine toward South Korea. In recent years, the North Korean leadership has shifted away from its longstanding policy of peaceful reunification, formally redefining the South as an adversarial state.

Such a move would mark a significant institutional shift, embedding the current security posture into the country’s legal framework.

Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister and a key political figure, was absent from KCNA’s list of members of the State Affairs Commission, where she had served since 2021. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it was examining the development.

Analysts said her omission did not necessarily indicate a reduction in influence. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, said the move could reflect a strategic redistribution of roles, with Kim Yo Jong continuing to exercise authority within the ruling Workers’ Party in a policy coordination capacity.The developments come as North Korea continues to consolidate internal governance structures while signalling a hardened stance on inter-Korean relations.