Peaceful Coexistence, Beginning with Calling the North 'Joseon' Instead of 'North Korea'

On October 18 (Sunday) at 11:00 AM, via ZOOM, with the participation of around 50 Korean community leaders and heads of Korean associations from 27 countries, Professor Emeritus Lee Jae-bong of the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy & Peace Studies at Wonkwang University held an online lecture and discussion session under the theme "The Era of Inter-Korean Peaceful Coexistence," moderated by Kwak Sang-yyeol, President of the New Zealand National Unification Advisory Council. Professor Lee Jae-bong deeply examined the issue of reciprocal titles between the South and the North and the historical background of the Korean Peninsula's state names. Criticizing the distorted perceptions of the division era intertwined with the term "North Korea," which we have used carelessly, Professor Lee emphasized that recognizing the counterpart's official state name is the first step toward peaceful coexistence.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Lee mentioned the fundamental human relationship of exchanging names first, pointing out the reality that we have lived on while not even knowing the official name of the other party while talking about unification. From the perspective of the South, the land we live on is called the Korean Peninsula, and the country established on it is the Republic of Korea or Korea, treating the North not as an official state while calling it "North Korea" or, in the past, "puppet." Conversely, from the perspective of the North, the country established on the Korean Peninsula is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while the South has been treated as a fake country established by American imperialism.

This title conflict has not been resolved even after 35 years have passed since agreeing to respect each other's system and ideology through the conclusion of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement and simultaneous entry into the UN in 1991. Using the English name "Korea" as an example, Professor Lee explained that both Korea and Joseon mean Korea in English. In particular, pointing out the attitude of finding fault with the word "democracy" included in the North's state name, he explained that since democracy exists in various forms such as liberal democracy, people's democracy, and social democracy, it is difficult to deny the North's democracy.

Looking at the roots of state names historically, both Joseon and Korea are the oldest country names generated on the Korean Peninsula. Gojoseon is a name called for convenience by adding the old character "Go," and the official name is Joseon. Korea can find its roots in Mahan and others during the Samhan period. Immediately after liberation in 1945, the country established by the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence was the People's Republic of Korea, and at that time, the People's Republic of Korea gained overwhelming support in the US Military Government's opinion poll. Afterwards, the South chose the Republic of Korea, and the North chose the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Regarding the discussion on state names after unification, Professor Lee explained the background of "Goryeo," which the North has put forward as its unification state name since 1973. Rather than creating conflicts over the names Korea in the South and Joseon in the North, the argument to make Goryeo—the name of the first unified state in our history and the origin of "Korea" widely known to the world—the unified state name was included in the North's federal system plan. However, he also pointed out the paradoxical reality that the North recently put forward the hostile two-state theory, gave up unification, and began calling the South the Republic of Korea or Korea.

Professor Lee strongly criticized the contradiction where the government and media still insist on using the term "North Korea." Just as "North Korea" is the title the North hates the most, if the South hates being called "South Joseon," it is proper to call each other by official state names. Citing past cases such as Myanmar and the United States, he introduced the historical processes in which official state names were accepted when demanded by counterparts.

In the Q&A session following the lecture, passionate interest and discussions continued among overseas compatriots participating from all over the world. Participants from various global regions, such as Guangzhou (China), Vancouver (Canada), Philadelphia, and Germany, formed a consensus that the inter-Korean title issue should be expanded into government-level guidelines or private-level campaigns. In particular, opinions were gathered to push for the "Movement to Properly Call Official Names," led by overseas compatriots first, as a practical task for peaceful coexistence.

This lecture served as an occasion to look back on the division language habits fixed over a long period of time and to once again awaken the fact that using titles respecting the counterpart is a vital key to establishing peace and restoring trust on the Korean Peninsula.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]