Having long hair in North Korea is forbidden.
Wearing Western designer clothes is out of reach for almost everyone.
But one person defies these boundaries with impunity — Kim Jong Un's daughter.
Kim Ju Ae has made more regular and significant public appearances alongside her father in recent years.
Now, South Korean intelligence says her father is set to choose her as the country's next leader.
That would extend the family dynasty to a fourth generation.
Here is what we know about Kim Ju Ae, her possible rise to the top job, and what it means for the future of North Korea.
Who is Kim Ju Ae?
It's not entirely clear if Kim Ju Ae is her real name.
The first mention of Kim Ju Ae came from American basketball legend Dennis Rodman.
He told reporters he held "baby Ju Ae" during a trip to North Korea in 2013.
She is the only confirmed child of Kim Jon Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju.
But very little else is known about her.
Even her exact birthday isn't known, with South Korea's intelligence agency estimating her to be 13 years old.
North Korean state media first featured Kim Ju Ae in 2022 when she was pictured inspecting an intercontinental ballistic missile alongside her father.
Since then, she has made more and increasingly significant public appearances, including at weapons tests, military parades, and factory openings alongside her father.
In some appearances, she has been photographed wearing Gucci sunglasses and sporting a long haircut.
North Korean state media have referred to her as "the beloved child" and a "great person of guidance", or "hyangdo" in Korean, a term typically reserved for top leaders and their successors.
She also travelled with her father to Beijing last year for his first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years.
Edward Howell, a lecturer and research fellow on North Korea at Oxford University, said that the visit was a significant moment, but there were also domestic benefits to having his daughter around.
"Kim Jong Un wants to show domestic audiences that he is a family man," he told the ABC.
"He is trying to show the North Korean population that his regime under his control is here to stay, but if something happens to him, the Kim regime will continue."
He said, crucially, that meant the country would continue to try to gain international recognition as a nuclear-armed state.
Will she be North Korea's next leader?
Early last month, Kim Ju Ae made her first publicised visit to her family's mausoleum, where the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather are on display.
That was a deliberate and political move, according to experts, with South Korean intelligence also taking notice.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) told South Korean MPs that she had been chosen by her father to lead North Korea after him.
"In the past, the NIS described Kim Ju Ae as being 'in study as successor', but today the expression used was that she 'was in the stage of being internally appointed successor,'" MP Lee Seong-kweun told reporters following a closed-door briefing from the NIS.
The NIS believes the role she has taken on during public events indicates she has begun to provide policy input and is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader, Lee and another MP, Park Sun-won, said.
Kim Jong Un was just 26 when he was officially named heir during a 2010 party conference, two years after Kim Jong Il suffered a debilitating stroke.
Following his father's death in December 2011, he was abruptly thrust into the throne with relatively little preparation.
Some analysts suggest that Kim Jong Un's decision to debut his daughter early possibly reflects his own experience of being rushed into power.
Are there other heirs?
Maybe.
In 2023, South Korea's spy agency told MPs that Kim Jong Un and his wife also likely have an older son and a younger third child, whose gender is unknown.
North Korea expert Howell said nothing is known about these other children.
He said that while North Korean society is male-dominated, bloodline is more important than sex.
"If you are from the Kim family line, preserving this family line is the most important thing," he said.
"So if it has to be the young Ms Kim or Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, that is far superior to finding someone else.
"There's a lot of nuance here — is she [Kim Ju Ae] likely to succeed him? Yes. Is she definitely going to succeed him? We just don't know."
When will we know?
Experts will be closely watching to see if the young teenager attends the upcoming meeting of North Korea's Workers' Party and how she is presented, including whether she takes any titles.
Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea's Sejong Institute, said it could be the moment succession plans are formalised.
Kim Ju Ae could be appointed to the party's first secretary post, second-highest posting, although such a decision might not be immediately disclosed to the outside world, Cheong said.
Other analysts question whether she would receive such a high-profile post or any formal party role, given that party rules require members to be at least 18.
If Kim Jong Un does use the party congress to cement his daughter as successor, the signs would be more subtle, said Koh Yu-hwan, former president of South Korea's Institute of National Unification.
For example, the party may issue self-praise about how North Korea has survived longer than most other Communist states, and credit that to the country's "successful inheritance of the revolution," he said.
"If you see comments like that, it would be reasonable to think that Ju Ae has been cemented," as heir, Koh said.
ABC/wires
