Photo : KBS News
The ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs says no policy has been set on referring to North Korea by its official name, and that it intends to carefully review the matter through public discussion.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, an official from Seoul’s unification ministry said steps are being taken to gather opinions in efforts to rebuild inter-Korean trust and seek dialogue in line with Seoul’s principles of respecting the North’s system, halting hostile acts and rejecting absorption unification.
Controversy has sparked over the reference after Unification Minister Chung Dong-young used North Korea’s official name – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK) – a number of times this year.
South Korea currently refers to the North as “North Korea,” instead of DPRK, or “Joson” in Korean, since the South Korean Constitution does not recognize the relationship between the two Koreas as state-to-state relations.
Critics have said the name change could also indicate Seoul’s acceptance of Pyongyang’s “two hostile states” policy regarding the cross-border ties.