ANYONE IN NORTH Korea with the same name as the country’s dictator – Kim Jong-un – has been ordered to change it.
According to official documents leaked to KBS TV in South Korea, an administrative order stated that:
All party organs and public security authorities should make a list of residents named Kim Jong-Un… and train them to voluntarily change their names.
The decree was signed by then leader Kim Jong-Il in January 2011, who had anointed his son Kim Jong-un as successor before his death in December of that year.
Authorities have also been told to reject birth certs containing the name, and the order also applies to other state documentation like social security cards and school diplomas.
The directive also insisted – apparently in vain – that the new rule be kept quiet:
Authorities should make sure that there is no one making unnecessary complaints or spreading gossip… regarding this project.
North Korea previously banned the use of the name Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the modern state, and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il.
Park Jin-Hee, a North Korean defector working for KBS who obtained the document, told AFP she was sure the 2011 directive had been effectively enforced.
There is no one in the North named Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, and there is no doubt the same rule applies for Jong-Un.
Contains reporting by AFP.
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