In a rather bizzare move, the North Korea govt has ordered parents to give their children patriotic names including the likes of 'bomb' and 'gun' - as the dictatorship clamps down on using gentler, more uplifting monikers. Previously, Pyongyang had allowed people to use names that ended on softer vowels such as A Ri and Su Mi. However, now the country has demanded that people with softer names change theirs and those of their children's to more ideological and militaristic ones if they are not 'revolutionary' enough. They want people to give their children names with a final consonant and are threatening fines to those who do not comply. Suitable names include Chong Il (gun), Chung Sim (loyalty), Pok Il (bomb) and Ui Song (satellite).
Notices have been constantly issued at the neighbourhood-watch unit's residents' meetings to correct all names without final consonants. '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.'The measure has left many parents angry and they are reluctant to take the step. The source added that they wondered if the authorities are introducing the measure so that names reflect the 'current era of starvation and oppression.
Multiple generations of families were criticised by authorities for naming their children with a mixture of Chinese, Japanese and South Korean monikers instead of North Korean ones. Privately, residents joke whether they should take old-fashioned names including Yong Chol, Sun Hui or Man Bok. These are as archaic as Gladys, Mildred or Eustace