N. Korea bans people from naming children with words of unification, unified Korea

North Korea has ordered people not to use the words of unification or a unified Korea for their children's names as the repressive regime has been ramping up its drive to erase unification references, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday. North Korea has recently banned people from naming children with the words of "Tongil," "Hana," and "Hankook," which means unification, one and the Republic of Korea, respectively, in Korean, according to the ministry. The move is part of North Korea's efforts to remove unification references after its leader, Kim Jong-un, defined inter-Korean ties as those "between two states hostile to each other" at a year-end party meeting. Kim said he sees no point in seeking unification with South Korea and ordered officials to disband state agencies in charge of inter-Korean affairs. This file image (top half), captured from the website of North Korea's Foreign Trade of the DPRK on Feb. 19, 2024, shows a red-colored image of the Korean Peninsula deleted from the upper side o f the website. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) North Korea erased the section of geography from the website of the foreign ministry as it stated that Korea is a maritime country whose three sides are surrounded by sea, according to the ministry. The country also eliminated books with unification references that were placed at North Korea's overseas diplomatic missions, it added. Meanwhile, the ministry said North Korea is expected to discuss economic achievements, ways to enhance political ideology and organizational issues during a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) slated for late June. "There is a possibility for the North to convene a key session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) right after the WPK plenary meeting," a ministry official said. North Korea has yet to announce the schedule to elect new SPA deputies and when to hold a meeting of the SPA, the North's rubber-stamp parliament. The unification ministry said in March that Nort h Korea may scrap an inter-Korean basic agreement signed in 1991 at its next parliamentary meeting. The North is also expected to revise the constitution to define South Korea as its "invariable principal enemy," as earlier instructed by Kim Jong-un, and could clarify its territorial boundaries, including the maritime border. "Following the SPA meeting, the North's foreign ministry may announce a decision related to its affairs with South Korea or 'visible' measures to disconnect the Gyeongui road," the Seoul official said. In January, North Korean troops were detected installing mines on two rare roads connecting the two Koreas, including the Gyeongui route between South Korea's western border city of Paju and the North's Kaesong. The North has also dismantled dozens of street lamps along its side of the Gyeongui road and the Donghae road along the east coast. North Korea's foreign ministry is presumed to be handling inter-Korean affairs, as the United Front Department, a key party organization in charg e of ties with South Korea, was renamed to the WPK Central Committee Bureau 10, which apparently focuses on psychological warfare against the South. Source: Yonhap News Agency