N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with wife, daughter on Thursday

김주애, '선대수령 안치' 금수산궁전 첫 참배 김정은과 동행

Marking 2026, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the family mausoleum, the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, on New Year's Day.
He was with his daughter Ju-ae, who was making her very first public appearance at the palace.
Our Kim Bo-kyoung tells us more.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the first day of 2026.
This, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday.
What's notable, was that Kim's daughter Kim Ju-ae appeared publicly for the first time at a visit to the family mausoleum.
The media did not directly mention Ju-ae’s attendance, but the photos released showed Kim Jong-un, his wife Ri Sol-ju, and their daughter Ju-ae standing together in the very front row, with Ju-ae positioned at the center.
They were accompanied by key party and government officials, and the KCNA reported that all visitors made a firm pledge to fulfill their responsibilities and duties at the forefront of the sacred cause of realizing the eternal prosperity and development of the regime, and its people's well-being.

With the 9th Party Congress expected to be held in January, many are seeing Ju-ae's appearance at the palace for the first time, as a political signal related to leadership succession.
The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of past leaders --Kim Jong-un's late father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung, are enshrined, is a symbol in North Korea of the legitimacy of the regime.
Since coming to power in 2012, Kim Jong-un has visited the palace on New Year’s Day almost every year, but he skipped the visit in 2018, as well as in 2024 and 2025, making the visit alongside his daughter all the more surprising.

The KCNA also reported that on the same day, Kim Jong-un met with students who were to perform in a Lunar New Year celebration and took photos with them, apparently highlighting his image of “valuing future generations."
Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.

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2026-01-02, 10:00 (KST)