Hi Global Recap readers,
I don’t usually wade into “family drama.” But today feels like the right excuse to cover a North Korea thread I’ve wanted to include for a while.
Some of what follows falls into tinfoil territory. Still, many avid North Korea tinfoilers treat these stories as more or less true (including a few of my own friends).
I also have a handful of similar stories from Chinese sources involving Xi Jinping, but we’ll save those for the day Beijing gives us its own version of a family-drama headline.
🇰🇵 NORTH KOREA
13 Year Old Heir,
Rumors of Another Woman
Kim Ju Ae (left) with Kim Jong Un (right)
South Korea's intelligence service is telling lawmakers that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has moved his teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, into the "successor-designate stage" of a fourth-generation dynasty.
Plus, there are also rumors circulating about why he might be doing this.
Briefing. In a closed-door session on Thursday, South Korea's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers it now reads Ju Ae's public role as active succession signaling, not just training.
Optics. Ju Ae first appeared publicly at a long-range missile test in November 2022, and she has since been placed beside her father at a number of high profile events, including a New Year's Day visit to Pyongyang's Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on January 1, 2026.
There are rumors that Kim Jong Un (right) deliberately gained weight and altered his appearance to resemble North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung (left). This was reportedly driven by concerns that, given his young age at the time, he might be perceived as lacking legitimacy.
Timing. The early spotlight is unusual given that Kim, now 42, was named heir at 26 in 2010 and took power after his father's death in December 2011, and analysts argue he learned the costs of a rushed transition firsthand.
Even if the regime is locking in the message now, formal titles could be constrained by party rules that reportedly require members to be at least 18.
But North Korea is a dynastic, personalist system. Do internal rules really constrain Kim’s choices, or do they mainly supply a procedural justification needed to manufacture elite consensus?
Tinfoil Territory
Kim’s wife Ri Seol Ju
Kim’s supposed mistress Hyon Song Wol
Rumors. A retired South Korean intelligence official has alleged, without publicly verifiable evidence, that Kim fathered an out-of-wedlock firstborn son with a prominent singer-turned-official, Hyon Song Wol.
Rumors suggest that Ri Sol Ju, the mother of Ju Ae, sought to secure her daughter’s position as North Korea’s future leader rather than allow the “illegitimate” firstborn son to inherit. The logic is that if the son were formally designated as heir, Ri (and by extension her daughter) would likely be sidelined.
Hyon Song Wol was reportedly Kim’s “true love,” but because Kim Jong Un’s father had already chosen Ri Sol Ju as his son’s wife, he had no choice but to marry Ri (at least according to the rumor).
This rumor tries to solve the question many have been asking, "why is Kim grooming Ju Ae at such an early age?"
But remember: none of these rumors can be verified.
📌 Context. North Korea has been ruled by the Kim family since 1948, and succession is typically communicated through party choreography, titles, and who gets centered in official imagery as much as through any explicit announcement.
🇷🇺 RUSSIA
Russia Floats
Return to Dollar
An internal Kremlin memo reportedly details a postwar economic bargain with the Trump administration that includes a reversal on Russia’s long-running push to ditch the US-led currency system.
Memo. The document, drafted this year and circulated among senior Russian officials, lays out seven areas where Moscow thinks US and Russian economic interests could align after a deal to end the war in Ukraine, including a return to dollar settlements.
Offer. The list pairs finance with a broad commercial pitch:
aviation modernization with possible US participation
joint oil and LNG ventures including offshore and hard-to-recover reserves
cooperation on nuclear energy including for AI ventures
joint work on raw materials like lithium, copper, nickel, platinum
shared push for fossil fuels over low-emission approaches
preferential conditions for US firms to reenter Russia’s consumer market
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (right)
Skepticism. Officials familiar with the document argued Moscow is unlikely to truly pivot away from Beijing, which has become a key supplier of components and raw materials for Russia since sanctions cut off other sources, and said some promises appear crafted to tempt the US while deepening rifts with European allies.
Spillover. However, some argue this is not merely Russia distracting the West with easy concessions.
This is because, as the memo also states, restoring access to dollar markets would deepen Russia’s foreign-exchange liquidity and reduce balance-of-payments volatility.
This would be a win-win, since it also reinforcing the US dollar’s role as the world’s primary reserve currency.
📌 Context. Since the 2022 full-scale invasion, Russia has leaned harder on non-dollar trade and alternative payment routes after sweeping sanctions. Any serious return to dollar settlements would likely depend on a phased sanctions rollback tied to a Ukraine peace arrangement.
🇮🇷 IRAN
US Smuggles Starlinks into Iran
Reports say the US ran a covert effort to move about 6,000 Starlink terminals into Iran after Tehran cut nationwide internet access on Jan 8. The operation is being described as a bid to keep anti-regime protesters online during the blackout.
Claim. Iranian authorities shut down internet access on Jan 8 as demonstrations spread, then security forces launched a crackdown whose death toll is currently disputed (numbers range from Iran's ~3,000 figure to external sources citing around 6,000 to even 40,000).
The shipment of terminals is reported to have arrived in January, but key details remain unconfirmed.
Purchase. US State Department officials reportedly bought nearly 7,000 Starlink terminals from Elon Musk's company in January, redirecting money from other internet-freedom programs. Officials said President Trump knew about the deliveries, but they did not say who approved the plan or how the devices entered Iran.
Risk. Possessing a Starlink terminal is illegal in Iran and can carry a two-year prison sentence, yet analysts and activists say tens of thousands are already in use.
Users reportedly pay about $2,000 for smuggled devices, often routed through Iraqi Kurdistan.
Some neighborhoods share a single connection across roughly 40 homes while trying to hide equipment from rooftop raids.
📌 Context. Iran periodically imposes nationwide internet blackouts during unrest, forcing dissidents into a cat-and-mouse game over connectivity. Starlink can bypass Iran's terrestrial networks with satellite broadband, but hardware is harder to conceal than software tool
