Renaming the Ministry of Unification (통일부) tasked with managing North Korea ties is “worth serious consideration” in light of shifting geopolitical realities, Seoul’s nominee for unification minister said at his confirmation hearing on Monday, a proposal that experts said could signal a retreat from constitutional commitments to peaceful unification.

Addressing the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Chung Dong-young described the potential name change as part of a “new beginning” for unification policy and said it should be examined in light of changing circumstances on the Korean Peninsula. 

He offered “Ministry of Peaceful Unification (평화통일부)” and “Ministry of Korean