Chun Su-jin, the South Korean author of a book on North Korean women leaders, said the chance of North Korean elites welcoming Kim's daughter as ruler is close to zero. “That gives ample time for North Korea's political culture to change and create the conditions for a female successor,” Madden said. The increased participation of North Korean women in elite politics does not necessarily indicate change to the broader social or political systems, 38 North said in a 2020 report. North Korea is deeply isolated from world geopolitics and is under UN sanctions for its weapons programmes, which include nuclear bombs. "In North Korea, gender is still important to be a leader," said Hyun In-ae, a North Korean defector who now works at the Ewha Institute of Unification Studies in Seoul.

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