It seems like a familiar rite of passage: a dad teaching his daughter to drive. Except in this case, the girl is at the helm of a hulking battle tank, her head sticking out from the driver’s hatch, while the father — the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un — reclines on the hull behind her.

这一幕看起来就像是爸爸教女儿开车这种人们熟悉的成长仪式。只不过在这个场景里，女孩驾驶的是一辆庞大的主战坦克，她的头从驾驶员舱口探出来，而她的父亲——朝鲜最高领导人金正恩——正斜靠在她身后的坦克车体上。

The video and photographs of the girl, Kim Ju-ae, who is believed to be around 13, apparently driving the heavily armed vehicle during a military exercise, were published last month by North Korean state media. It was the latest in a series of public appearances that have fueled speculation that she is being groomed to succeed her father.

上个月，朝鲜官方媒体发布了这段视频和照片，画面中，据信年约13岁的女孩金主爱在一场军事演习中驾驶着这辆重装甲车辆。这是她一系列公开亮相中的最新一次，外界由此愈发猜测，她正被培养为父亲的接班人。

That theory has gained added credence from South Korea’s spy agency, which now believes Ju-ae has officially been chosen to succeed her father, South Korean lawmakers briefed on the matter said on Monday. They added that the agency’s analysis was based on “credible intelligence” rather than circumstantial context.

听取了相关简报的韩国议员周一表示，韩国情报机构为这一论断提供了更多佐证，该机构目前认为，金主爱已被正式选定为父亲的接班人。议员们还称，情报机构的分析基于“可靠情报”，而非间接旁证。

In the tank video, Mr. Kim is shown riding on the hull, smiling and occasionally leaning down to speak to his daughter, who is looking straight ahead.

在坦克驾驶的视频中，金正恩坐在车体上，面带微笑，时不时俯身和目视前方的女儿交谈。

The images seemed to be “an intent to highlight Ju-ae’s military exceptionality” and “dilute skepticism of a female heir,” said Park Sun-won, a lawmaker on the South Korean parliamentary intelligence committee.

韩国国会情报委员会议员朴宣元（音）表示，这些画面意在“凸显金主爱在军事领域的非凡资质”，同时“消解外界对女性继承人的质疑”。

The existence of Ju-ae, along with her name and age, was first revealed by the retired N.B.A. star Dennis Rodman, who visited Mr. Kim in 2013. She made her public debut at a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022. Just this year, she has been spotted alongside her 42-year-old father at inspections of arms factories and other missile launches, and she has been seen shooting pistols with senior military officials and firing a sniper rifle.

金主爱的存在、姓名与年龄最早是由已退役的NBA球星丹尼斯·罗德曼2013年访朝会见金正恩时对外披露的。2022年，她在一次洲际弹道导弹试射活动中首次公开亮相。仅在今年，她就多次被目击陪同42岁的父亲视察军工厂、观摩导弹发射，还被拍到与军方高级官员一同练习手枪射击、操作狙击步枪。

Lim Eul-chul, a scholar of North Korea at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said that surrounding Ju-ae with such martial imagery at an early age was a calculated strategy to craft the legitimacy she needs to rule over North Korea’s deeply patriarchal political system. Since the country’s founding in 1948, all of its leaders — Mr. Kim and his father and grandfather — have been men.

首尔远东问题研究所朝鲜问题学者林乙哲（音）表示，在金主爱年纪尚幼时就为其塑造大量军事化形象是一项精心策划的策略，目的是为她在朝鲜根深蒂固的父权政治体系中执政奠定合法性基础。自1948年建国以来，朝鲜历任最高领导人——金正恩及其父亲和祖父——均为男性。

Mr. Lim said, “In order for a woman to assume the position of supreme leader, it is very important for them to show that they have the military experience and knowledge that can put them on equal footing with men.”

林乙哲说：“对于一名女性而言，要登上最高领导人的位置，至关重要的一点是向外界证明，她拥有能与男性平起平坐的军事经验与知识。”

“Building a narrative of courage is very important,” he noted.

他特别指出：“构建关于勇气的叙事非常重要。”

Though Mr. Kim’s rule is not expected to end anytime soon, Mr. Lim added, the North Korean leader is most likely beginning the process for his daughter while she is still young to dampen potential objections.

林乙哲还说，尽管目前预计金正恩的执政不会在短期内结束，但这位朝鲜最高领导人很可能趁女儿尚且年幼时就启动接班布局，平息潜在的反对声音。

“Over the years, Kim Ju-ae will be shown going through many experiences, sharing in the happiness and sadness of the North Korean people,” Mr. Lim said. “Eventually, any initial resistance to her succession will turn into resigned acceptance.”

“未来数年，外界会看到金主爱经历各类历练，与朝鲜人民同甘共苦，”林乙哲说。“最终，对她接班的所有最初抵触都会转变为无奈的接纳。”

South Korea’s spy agency previously said that it believed Mr. Kim had up to three children, and that the eldest might be a boy. In recent years, amid Ju-ae’s conspicuous ascent, some have speculated that the son has a disability, has otherwise been deemed unfit or might still one day materialize to sideline his sister.

韩国情报机构此前曾表示，据信金正恩最多有三个孩子，长子可能是一个男孩。近些年，在金主爱高调崛起的过程中，有外界猜测，这个儿子可能存在残疾，或因其他原因被认为不适合继位，也有可能在未来某天突然现身，取代妹妹的位置。

Mr. Lim said that he was among the skeptics of the theory that a son might suddenly appear.

林乙哲表示，他并不认同这个儿子会突然现身的说法。

“To have a son but not reveal him would go against Kim Jong-un’s leadership style,” he said. “Unlike his father or grandfather, who tried to promote a mysticism around their bloodline, Kim Jong-un has shown himself to be much more forthcoming about his family, whether it’s his wife or sister.”

“明明有儿子却始终不对外公开，这不符合金正恩的执政风格，”他说，“他的父亲和祖父始终试图为自身血统营造神秘感，而金正恩截然不同，无论是妻子还是妹妹，他对自己的家庭情况向来更为坦率。”

Mr. Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, and his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, have built up their own public profiles in recent years. Kim Yo-jong had herself been floated as a possible heir.

近些年，金正恩的妻子李雪主、妹妹金与正都已树立起各自的公众形象，金与正还曾一度被视作潜在的接班人。

Ju-ae has been portrayed as both a loving daughter and a budding diplomat, meeting Alexander Matsegora, at the time the Russian ambassador to North Korea, in 2024.

金主爱被塑造出的形象既是乖巧孝顺的女儿，又是初露锋芒的外交官，2024年她曾与时任俄罗斯驻朝鲜大使亚历山大·马采戈拉会面。

At times, Ju-ae has even taken precedence over her father in photographs — a highly unusual decision that analysts said would have not been cleared without Mr. Kim’s sign-off.

有时，金主爱在照片中的站位甚至优于父亲——分析人士称，这是一个极不寻常的决定，未经金正恩本人批准绝不可能通过。