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South Korean Official Urges Mutual Use of Official Names Between the Two Koreas
Kang Chang-il, vice chair of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, called on July 2 for South and North Korea to address each other by their formal state names. The statement followed a similar appeal by leaders of seven major religious orders. South Korea currently uses the term North Korea rather than the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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The vice chair of South Korea's Peaceful Unification Advisory Council called Thursday for the two Koreas to refer to each other by their official names. Kang Chang-il made the remarks after leaders of seven major religious orders issued a similar appeal earlier in the day.
South Korea refers to its northern neighbor as "North Korea" rather than its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, because Seoul does not treat relations as state-to-state under the 1991 Basic Agreement.
"I would first like to express my deep appreciation for the senior religious leaders who said peace begins with respecting each other's name," Kang said. He added that using official names would mark the first step toward replacing the armistice with a peace regime.
"If North Korea calls us the Republic of Korea, it is only reasonable that we call North Korea the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," he said.
Kang spoke at a regional conference of the council in Incheon on July 1.
