Calling them 'North Korean' may turn them away from reporters: Naming dilemma at Asian Games

The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are just around the corner. For journalists, that means a hectic rush to arrange accommodation and transport around competition schedules. But this time, something else is weighing on South Korean reporters’ minds: when they encounter North Korean athletes, how should they address them?

South Korean athletes and journalists alike are bound to cross paths with the North Korean delegation at venues throughout the Games. North Korea is sending around 180 athletes across 14 sports, including football, weightlifting, table tennis and wrestling. Its women’s football team has its sights set on gold as competition begins Monday. With the two Koreas drawn in the same group, encounters on and off the pitch will be inevitable.

The sticking point is what to call them. It is easy to picture North Korean athletes instantly turning away the moment a South Korean journalist says “North Korea” or “an athlete from the North.” The choice of words has recently become a particularly sensitive issue at international sporting events, amid a broader shift in relations that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un formalized in late 2023 by describing the two Koreas as “two hostile states.”

An abrupt end to casual chats

It was not always this way, according to athletes who have crossed paths with their North Korean counterparts many times over the years. Boxer Im Ae-ji, who was selected for the national team but ruled out by injury, and gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong say they still chatted with North Korean athletes at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, and their shared language allowed them to exchange greetings and develop a rapport. But they noticed a sharp change at the Hangzhou Games in 2023.

At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the North Korean women’s football coach drew a firm line whenever South Korean reporters used “North Korea” or “the North,” insisting he would answer questions only if they used the country’s official name. At a press conference following Naegohyang Women’s Football Club’s title win in May, coach Ri Yu-il and his players even cut short the question-and-answer session and walked out after reporters used those terms.

But calling the country the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” or “Joseon,” as they demand, is no straightforward matter either. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young brought the issue into public debate when he used “Hanguk-Joseon relations” to describe inter-Korean ties during ministry briefings and on other occasions. President Lee Jae Myung, however, urged caution, saying that “even a single term can become a source of political contention.”

Some argue that using North Korea’s official name could conflict with South Korea’s Constitution as well. Article 3 defines the country’s territory as “the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands,” while Article 4 commits it to pursuing unification. That helps explain the legal and political sensitivities surrounding language that seems to recognize North Korea as a separate state. It may also explain why Lee himself has continued to use “the North” and “North Korea” since taking office.

There may be a way around the problem. In a May 23 post on X, Lee avoided mentioning the country’s name altogether. “My heartfelt congratulations to the players of Naegohyang Women’s Football Club on winning the title,” he wrote. “The ball is round, and we will meet again.”

North Korean athletes are also said to have taken no issue with questions at press conferences that avoided mentioning the country’s name.

Will North Korea’s nuclear confidence carry over into sport?

But would that solve everything? Not necessarily. North Korea’s hostility toward South Korean athletes and journalists has become increasingly apparent. Daily NK, a news outlet specializing in North Korea, also reported that the delegation bound for Japan had received instructions to reinforce its “ideological discipline.” These included strict measures to prevent ideological deviation or misconduct in Japan, which North Korea regards as an “enemy state.”

Humanity’s unwritten code holds that international sport should bring people together across ideological divides. A selfie taken by North and South Korean table tennis players at the 2024 Paris Olympics was possible precisely because they were on the Olympic stage. Even Japan, which generally bars North Korean nationals from entering under its unilateral sanctions over Pyongyang’s nulear and missile programs, makes exceptions for participation in sporting events.

Experts believe the North Korean delegation will be eager to make a strong impression at these Asian Games.

“Taken together, recent developments, including North Korea’s party congress and constitutional revisions at the Supreme People’s Assembly, point to an underlying confidence rooted in the conviction that ‘we are a nuclear power,’” said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea has placed great importance on sporting achievements as a means of strengthening internal unity and promoting the regime,” he said. “Its athletes are therefore also likely to convey confidence in the system through their conduct during competition and in interviews.”

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, agreed.

“North Korea is now displaying a level of confidence and pride not seen since the Cold War,” he said. “These Games offer an excellent opportunity to observe and analyze North Korea under Kim Jong-un.”

Both experts believe Pyongyang is likely to use the Asian Games to reinforce its position that the two Koreas are “two hostile states,” while presenting itself to the wider world as a normal country.

The Games will therefore offer a measure of how North Korea wants the world to see it. Just seven or eight years ago, its athletes mingled freely with their South Korean counterparts. How will they treat South Korean athletes and journalists this time? That could prove every bit as interesting to watch as the race for medals.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.