Key facts
- Kang Chang-il, vice chair of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, advocated for using official names between North and South Korea.
- He suggested this mutual respect for names could be a foundational step towards peace on the Korean Peninsula.
- The call aligns with a similar appeal made by senior leaders from South Korea's seven major religious orders.
- South Korea currently does not use the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as its official designation for the North.
Kang Chang-il, vice chair of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), a presidential advisory body, has called for South and North Korea to use each other's official names as a means to foster peace on the Korean Peninsula. This suggestion follows a similar appeal made by senior leaders from South Korea's seven major religious orders.
Kang stated that the first step in transitioning from the current armistice system to a peace regime would be for the two Koreas to address each other by their official designations. He articulated that if North Korea were to refer to South Korea as the Republic of Korea, it would be logical for South Korea to reciprocate by calling North Korea the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Currently, South Korea refers to the North as 'North Korea' and not by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or 'Joson' in Korean. This practice stems from Seoul's non-recognition of its relationship with North Korea as a state-to-state affair, as stipulated by the 1991 inter-Korean Basic Agreement.