Passport

The Palestinian flower of North Korea

According to the website NKnews.org, deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had a Palestinian "foster child;" Jindallae Safarini, the daughter of the former Palestinian ambassador to North Korea: "Her parents had reportedly not been able to have children during their ten-year stay in Pyongyang from 1982-1992. Upon hearing this, Kim Jong Il apparently assigned ...

By , Asia editor at Foreign Policy from 2014-2016.
courtesy of NK News
courtesy of NK News
courtesy of NK News

According to the website NKnews.org, deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had a Palestinian "foster child;" Jindallae Safarini, the daughter of the former Palestinian ambassador to North Korea:

"Her parents had reportedly not been able to have children during their ten-year stay in Pyongyang from 1982-1992. Upon hearing this, Kim Jong Il apparently assigned fertility experts to the couple and, following successful treatment, suggested they name her "Jindallae", after the Korean rendering of "azalea," an eye-catchingly pink flowering shrub, not too dissimilar from the Kimilsungia flower, named after Kim Il Sung by the first president of Indonesia."

Isolated North Korea has pretty good relations with several Arab states and organizations; though it’s not every day one hears about Kim Jong Il’s Palestinian foster daughter. NK News also features a documentary of Safarini which ran on North Korean television.  

Isaac Stone Fish was Asia editor at Foreign Policy from 2014-2016. Twitter: @isaacstonefish

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