US RFA Reports Citing Local Sources
Already Unable to Use Names 'Ilseong, Jeongil, Jeongeun, Seolju'
North Korean authorities have reportedly been forcing people with the same name as Kim Ju-ae, the daughter of Chairman Kim Jong-un who recently appeared in public, to change their names.
On the 10th (local time), Radio Free Asia (RFA) cited a source from North Pyongan Province, reporting that "the Safety Department of Jeongju City in North Pyongan Province summoned women registered under the name 'Ju-ae' and ordered them to change their names."
The resident said, "Because the daughter, who is being promoted as the 'respected child' of the supreme leader, is named 'Ju-ae,' an internal directive was issued to eliminate people with the same name, according to an official from the Safety Department."
He added, "In the neighborhood where I live, there was a 12-year-old girl named 'Ju-ae,' and the Safety Department's resident registration division called her parents to the Safety Department, forcing them to change their daughter's name and replace her birth certificate."
Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, is clapping at the 75th anniversary military parade of the founding of the Korean People's Army held on the 8th at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. [Photo by Yonhap News]
RFA also reported that the same thing is happening in South Pyongan Province. The media quoted a local source saying, "In Pyongsong City, South Pyongan Province, an internal central directive was delivered through each neighborhood leader, ordering women named 'Ju-ae' to change their names within a week."
Furthermore, some residents have voiced complaints about the authorities' forced renaming, saying, "Who would have named their daughter 'Ju-ae' knowing that the supreme leader's daughter is named 'Ju-ae'?"
Currently, in North Korea, ordinary citizens are prohibited from using four names?'Ilseong,' 'Jeongil,' 'Jeongeun,' and 'Seolju'?as part of the Kim family's idolization.
Regarding this, RFA explained, "During Kim Il-sung's rule, people were not allowed to use the name 'Ilseong,' and during Kim Jong-il's era, people were forced to change their names if they had 'Jeongil'."
Previously, after formally announcing his son Kim Jong-un as successor in January 2011, former National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il ordered residents named 'Jeongeun' to change their names themselves and update their identification documents.
North Korea has not yet officially revealed that Kim Jong-un's daughter's name is 'Ju-ae.' Instead, when referring to Kim Ju-ae, expressions such as 'respected child' and 'honored child' are used.
Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service stated last November that after Chairman Kim publicly revealed his daughter for the first time during the test launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-17, the girl is estimated to be around 10 years old, is the second child, and uses the name Kim Ju-ae.
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