North Korea instructed parents to assign patriotic names to their children such as “bomb”, “gun” and “satellite” as Pyongyang cracks down on the use of names the government deems too soft.
Previously, the communist government (Pyongyang) allowed citizens to use names more affectionate names such as A Ri (loved one) and Su Mi (super beauty), similar to South Korea. But now the country has demanded that people with softer names change theirs and those of their children to more ideological and militaristic ones if they are not ‘revolutionary’ enough.
Kim Jong-un wants parents to give their children names with a final consonant and has threatened to fine those who do not comply, reportedly believing that names without a final consonant are “anti-socialist”.
According to the Mirror report, “Residents are complaining that the authorities are forcing people to change their names according to the standards required by the state. Starting last month, notices have been constantly issued at the neighborhood-watch unit’s residents’ meetings to correct all names without final consonants.”
The resident added, “People with names that don’t have a final consonant have until the end of the year to add political meanings to their name to meet revolutionary standards.”
North Korea has flagged the similarity of names between North and South Korea. The resident added that the new government’s latest crackdown was to ensure that the “new generation’s name would reflect the current era of starvation and oppression”.
“The order of the judicial authority to immediately change anti-socialist names has been emphasized at every residents’ meeting since October,” they said.
North Korean officials say that names must not be similar to those in South Korea, as tensions continue to rise between the two countries following a spate of missile tests conducted by the North along the contested border region. North Korea fired about 130 artillery rounds on Monday into the water near its western and eastern sea borders with South Korea, the latest military action contributing to worsening relations between the neighbors.
North Korea’s military said the firings were a warning against ongoing South Korean artillery exercises near the inland border town of Cheorwon and blamed the South for worsening tensions.
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