![\"Unification](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rcv.YNA.20260807.PYH2026080708530001300_P1.jpg\"\/ "\\"Unification")
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young (right) speaks during a meeting with members of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 7th. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Unification<\/p>\nUnification Minister Chung Dong-young (right) speaks during a meeting with members of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 7th. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Unification<\/p>\n
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young reiterated his call to refer to North Korea by its official state name, “Joseon,” to improve inter-Korean relations. His intent is to expand efforts toward peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas, beginning with public debate over changing how North Korea is addressed.<\/p>\n
On the 7th, Chung shared on his Facebook page that he had held a meeting with members of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, saying, “We had a meaningful time exploring a future of peaceful coexistence together.” Comparing the current state of inter-Korean relations to a “shout without an echo,” a phrase mentioned by President Lee Jae-myung, he wrote, “It is precisely at times like these that we must engrave the wisdom of elders who walked the path of peace first and move forward without haste.”<\/p>\n
Regarding how to address North Korea, he explained, “The Ministry of Unification has treated this as an agenda requiring public debate since April,” adding, “It is a matter to be approached cautiously by listening to opinions from all sectors and going through national consensus and legal and academic review.”<\/p>\n
Chung elaborated, “The name ‘Joseon’ did not come out of the blue,” noting, “Beginning with former President Roh Tae-woo’s 1991 speech at the UN General Assembly, the two Koreas have used each other’s official state names in more than 100 subsequent inter-Korean agreements and in agreements between the leaders of the two Koreas, including the June 15 Joint Declaration, the October 4 Declaration, the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration, and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration.”<\/p>\n
He stressed, “To move beyond hostility and confrontation, we must first face the other party,” adding, “To that extent, how we address one another is the foundation of perception and relations.”<\/p>\n
Chung also cited the example of East and West Germany. He argued, “After signing the Basic Treaty between the two Germanys in 1972, West Germany began using in earnest East Germany’s official state name, the ‘German Democratic Republic (DDR),’ in official diplomatic documents,” saying, “That is where the foundation for Germany’s peace, reconciliation, and cooperation was laid.”<\/p>\n
Chung added, “The Korean Peninsula, over which ‘three feet of ice’ has settled, also needs a small change to pierce a pinhole,” saying, “Even if the echo does not return, efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula cannot stop. I will move forward so that change toward peace can begin.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unification Minister Chung Dong-young (right) speaks during a meeting with members of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[192,57607,982,57606,31,146,34,30415,37],"class_list":["post-112120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-chung-dong-young","tag-ddr","tag-inter-korean-relations","tag-joseon","tag-korea","tag-lee-jae-myung","tag-north-korea","tag-peaceful-coexistence","tag-unification-ministry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}