"Credible intelligence" indicates N.Korean leader's daughter is successor

South Korea's spy agency now believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's teenage daughter has been positioned as his successor, lawmakers said on Monday, citing a recent public display of her driving a tank that was likely intended to dispel any doubts.



The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers its assessment was not based on circumstantial inference but on what it described as "credible intelligence" collected by the agency, according to briefings by ruling and opposition party members after a closed-door parliamentary meeting.



The NIS said the imagery of the daughter driving a tank was intended to highlight her supposed military aptitude and dispel doubts over a female heir, lawmakers said.



Such scenes are intended to pay "homage" to Kim's own public military appearances during the early 2010s when he was being prepared to succeed his own father, ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won said.



The latest assessment of Kim's daughter, who is believed to be around 13 and to be named Ju Ae, is a progression from earlier analysis by the spy agency which said she was likely being groomed to succeed her father.