Editor’s note: The following article is an opinion piece by Dan Gudgeon, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

South Korea’s Unification Minister has attracted attention — and sharp criticism — by floating a proposal to change how Seoul refers to its northern neighbor, a move that would do away with the name “North Korea.”

Pyongyang’s preferred name in English is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or Choson (조선) in Korean, and