By Hyemin Son, PYONGYANG North
Korea
The parents of a 12-year-old
Ju Ae were summoned to the local government office and confronted with a
shocking order: Change your daughter’s name.
Unfortunately, she shares the
same given name as Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae – and in North Korea
that’s now forbidden, sources in the country tell Radio Free Asia.
In recent months, state media
has been shining a spotlight on Kim Ju Ae as she accompanies her father at
important events, fueling speculation that she could be next in line to lead
the country – or that she is part of an effort to cast her father as an
approachable family man.
Ironically, her name has not
yet been officially revealed to the public. Instead, state media refer to her
as the “Noble Child,” “Respected Child” or “Beloved Daughter.”
Sources in North Korea told
Radio Free Asia that the government is now forcing everyone named Ju Ae to
change it to something else, all but confirming that Ju Ae is the name of Kim
Jong Un’s daughter, and that she will likely have an important role to play either
as a politician, a propaganda tool, or both.
That’s why officials called in the parents of a 12-year-old Ju Ae in the northwestern city of Chongju on Feb. 8 – along with every other Ju Ae in the area – to choose new names and update their birth certificates, a source who lives in her neighborhood told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“The social security official
said that the reason why the authorities are investigating individuals named
‘Ju Ae’ and forcing them to change their names is because the name of the
daughter touted as the ‘Noble Child of the Highest Dignity’ is Ju Ae,” the
source said, using an honorific term to refer to Kim Jong Un. “An order has
been issued to get rid of anyone with the same name.”
Forcing people to change their
names because they share it with a member of the ruling family has occurred
three other times in North Korea’s history, but each time it was because those
names, Il Sung, Jong Il and Jong Un, were the same as a sitting leader.
Neighborhood watch units told
residents in South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, that all
Ju Aes in the province had until the end of the week to change their names, a
source there said on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“Ju Ae, the daughter of the
Highest Dignity, has been upgraded to ‘Respected Child’ from ‘Noble [or
Beloved] Child,’ the second source said. “The name ‘Ju Ae’ is being controlled
so that ordinary citizens cannot use it.”
Residents are complaining about
forcing them to change their names as if they meant to slight the country’s
leadership when naming their children.
“They ask, ‘Who would have
named their daughter ‘Ju Ae’ if we had known that was the name of the daughter
of the Highest Dignity?’” the second source said.
Citizens have only become
aware of Kim Ju Ae’s name in the months following her first public appearance
in November 2022, and government officials began talking about her, the second
source said.
Authorities have not yet
confirmed the name of Kim Jong Un’s daughter. Outside knowledge that she is
called Ju Ae comes from former basketball star Dennis Rodman, who visited North
Korea in 2013 and met with her father, and from South Korean
intelligence.
Korean names are usually three
syllables, one for the surname and two for the given name, and given names are
usually formed by choosing two Chinese characters for their meanings. Multiple
characters have the same pronunciation in Korean, so it is inevitable that many
Koreans will have a given name pronounced the same way.
Kim is the most common Korean
surname. A South Korean census in 2015 determined that more than one-fifth of
the country was named Kim. It is therefore very likely that many of the North
Korean women and girls ordered to choose new names match Kim Ju Ae exactly.
Though democratic South Korea
has never forced any of its citizens to change their names, the Korea Times
reported in June 2017 that many South Korean women named Park Geun-hye had
applied to change their names to distance themselves from the country’s
disgraced president, who was at that time on trial for corruption following her
impeachment and removal from office in March of that year.
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