South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during a policy briefing to President Lee Jae Myung at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Wednesday. Pool Photo by Yonhap
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- South Korea's Unification Ministry unveiled a blueprint for improving inter-Korean relations Wednesday that includes dropping the term "main enemy" in reference to North Korea as part of a broader effort to ease tensions on the Peninsula.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young briefed President Lee Jae Myung and presented the ministry's work plan for the second half of 2026 at the presidential Blue House on Wednesday morning.
The plan calls for referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as well as replacing terms that incite confrontation or hostility, such as "main enemy."
South Korea has traditionally referred to its northern neighbor as "North Korea" rather than by its official name, reflecting Seoul's position under the 1991 Inter-Korean Basic Agreement that the two Koreas are not separate states.
