South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has informed lawmakers that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to be preparing to designate his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his successor. The agency raised its earlier assessment of the teenager being the “most likely successor,” according to details shared by South Korean politicians Park Seon-won and Lee Seong-gwon after a closed-door briefing in Seoul. Lee said Kim Ju Ae’s presence has been increasingly highlighted at major national events, including Armed Forces Day and visits to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and that she has begun expressing opinions on some policies.

Yonhap News Agency reported that if Kim Ju Ae attends or receives a title at the ruling Workers’ Party congress later this month, speculation about her succession will intensify. Very little is known about her, though she is believed to be in her teens. Her first public appearance was in 2022 at a missile test, and she has since accompanied her father to multiple state events, including a military parade in Beijing.

The NIS also briefed lawmakers that Kim Jong Un is overseeing the development of a large submarine capable of carrying up to 10 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, possibly powered by a nuclear reactor.