"Kim Ju-ae's real name is indeed Kim Ju-ae."
Some might wonder what kind of strange statement this is. This is a slight adaptation of the response that National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Lee Jong-suk gave to lawmakers on the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee during a parliamentary audit held at the NIS headquarters yesterday (October 29). During the audit yesterday, Representative Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea asked Director Lee whether the name of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter is indeed Kim Ju-ae as known to the public, and Director Lee reportedly replied to the effect that it is her real name. Viewers and readers who have followed news about North Korea might wonder what significance there is in our intelligence authorities confirming a name that has already been widely used. Therefore, I would like to briefly review the background.
Like other media outlets, SBS has consistently used the name Kim Ju-ae in its reporting whenever Kim Jong-un's daughter appeared in public. Domestic and international media outlets have referred to her as Kim Ju-ae based on information disclosed through an American private citizen's visit to North Korea. Dennis Rodman, a former U.S. NBA player, stated after meeting Kim Jong-un's daughter during his visit to North Korea on the occasion of Kim's birthday in 2013 that her name was Ju-ae. When this was reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, the existence of Kim Jong-un's child became known for the first time, and she came to be called Ju-ae.
Many people have experienced how Korean names can often be distorted when conveyed through foreigners. In that sense, the name Kim Ju-ae has been used provisionally with the lingering possibility of such mishearing or distortion. The fact that Kim Jong-un's name was initially known as Kim Jong-woon was also due to Japanese chef Kenji Fujimoto, who had worked as a personal chef for National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il, explaining it that way to the Japanese media. Figures who can obtain accurate information regarding the names of North Korea's leadership are extremely limited. The fact that the person who obtained this information was a foreigner who spoke a different language, rather than someone from South Korea sharing the same language, inherently limited the reliability of the information.
Even after the name Kim Ju-ae became widely used, the NIS and the South Korean government refrained for some time from providing a definitive explanation regarding her real name. Inside and outside the government, there were remarks that "Kim Ju-ae might not actually be Kim Ju-ae," acknowledging the lack of certainty. Accounts from North Korean defectors who were formerly diplomats also conflicted. Ryu Hyun-woo, a former acting North Korean ambassador to Kuwait, wrote the daughter's name as Kim Ju-ae in his book "Kim Jong-un's Hidden Secret Safe." He recounted that his father-in-law, Jon Il-chun, who managed Office 39—the agency overseeing Kim Jong-un's ruling funds—once brought a commemorative photograph of himself holding Ju-ae, on the back of which Jon had written "With Princess Ju-ae (主愛)." Ryu also revealed that when he asked about the meaning of the name, his father-in-law replied that Kim Jong-un said it meant "become a pretty daughter who monopolizes the love of ten thousand people." In contrast, Ri Il-gyu, a former counselor at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, told reporters at the 2024 Korea Global Forum hosted by the Ministry of Unification and Yonsei University that he understood the daughter's name to be "Kim Ju-ye."
I, too, wondered whether her name was Kim Ju-ae, Kim Ju-ye, or perhaps Kim Ju-hye. However, even before this assessment, the government reportedly used the name Kim Ju-ae internally for Kim Jong-un's daughter, and media outlets have continued to use the name Kim Ju-ae based on such factors. With the NIS's assessment on her real name now on the record, this sort of confusion has been settled "for now." Although the NIS did not disclose the grounds for its intelligence assessment, the fact that it issued an official position for the first time suggests that specific intelligence may have been obtained.
Yet one question still remains: Is Kim Ju-ae really Kim Ju-ae? This is because a final threshold of verification remains to determine whether the NIS's intelligence is definitive. To date, North Korea has never once officially disclosed what Kim Jong-un's daughter is named. As mentioned earlier, the reality of our intelligence was that Kim Jong-un was also referred to as "Kim Jong-woon" until North Korea made its official announcement. Until she is explicitly called Kim Ju-ae by North Korean state media, the daughter's name will provisionally remain Kim Ju-ae. North Korean media only refer to her with titles such as "beloved child" or "respected child." What about the North Korean people who frequently see her through photographs? It is presumed that most of them do not even know the name Kim Ju-ae that we use.
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