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

At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, South Korean reporters are grappling with how to address North Korean athletes without causing offense. North Korea is sending about 180 athletes in 14 sports, and the issue has become sharper amid Pyongyang’s insistence on its official name and its claim that the two Koreas are two hostile states. The article says the naming dispute reflects legal and political sensitivities in South Korea, while experts expect North Korea to use the Games to project confidence and reinforce that stance.

North Korea is sending around 180 athletes across 14 sports to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Its women’s football team begins competition on Monday, and the two Koreas are drawn in the same group.

North Korean officials have demanded that reporters use the country’s official name, such as Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or Joseon.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has used the phrase Hanguk-Joseon relations, while President Lee Jae Myung has warned that even a single term can become a source of political contention.

Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification and Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam University said the Games may show North Korea projecting confidence and reinforcing its two hostile states line.

Published Sep 14, 2026 5:20 pm KST

South Korean boxer Im Ae-ji, right, looks at her bronze medal during the women’s 54-kilogram boxing medal ceremony at the Paris Olympics at Stade Roland-Garros in France in August 2024. At left is North Korea’s Pang Chol-mi, who also won bronze. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

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.”

Ri Yu-il, head coach of North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s Football Club, looks out over the pitch ahead of the AFC Women’s Champions League semifinal against Suwon FC Women at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, May 20. Korea Times photo by Kang Ye-jin

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, watches a performance by the National Circus at the Pyongyang Circus Theater, Aug. 16, marking the 81st anniversary of Korea’s liberation, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the following day. Kim also attended swimming and diving competitions that day. Yonhap

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.

在2026年爱知-名古屋亚运会上，韩国记者正苦恼于如何才能在不冒犯对方的情况下提及朝鲜运动员。朝鲜将派出约180名运动员参加14个项目的比赛，而平壤坚持使用其官方名称并声称朝韩是两个敌对国家，使得这一问题变得更加棘手。文章指出，名称之争反映了韩国在法律和政治上的敏感性，而专家则预计朝鲜将利用此次亚运会展现自信并强化其立场。

朝鲜将派出约 180 名运动员参加 2026 年爱知-名古屋亚运会，参赛项目涵盖 14 个体育项目。

韩国女足将于周一开始比赛，韩朝两国被分在同一小组。

朝鲜官员要求记者使用该国的正式名称，例如朝鲜民主主义人民共和国或朝鲜。

统一部长官郑东荣使用了“韩朝关系”一词，而总统李在明则警告说，即使是一个词也可能成为政治争端的根源。

韩国统一研究院的洪敏和庆南大学的林乙哲表示，奥运会可能表明朝鲜展现出自信，并强化其“两个敌对国家”的路线。

发布于2026年9月14日下午5:20（韩国标准时间）

2024年8月，在法国巴黎罗兰·加洛斯球场举行的巴黎奥运会女子54公斤级拳击颁奖仪式上，韩国拳击手林爱智（右）正在查看她的铜牌。左侧是同样获得铜牌的朝鲜选手庞哲美。照片由《韩国时报》徐在勋拍摄。

2026年爱知-名古屋亚运会即将到来。对于记者来说，这意味着要争分夺秒地安排住宿和交通，以配合比赛日程。但这一次，韩国记者们心中还有另一个疑问：当他们遇到朝鲜运动员时，应该如何称呼他们？

在整个冬奥会期间，韩国运动员和记者都不可避免地会在各个场馆与朝鲜代表团碰面。朝鲜派出约180名运动员参加14个项目的比赛，包括足球、举重、乒乓球和摔跤。朝鲜女足的目标是在周一开赛之际夺得金牌。由于朝韩被分在同一小组，场上场下的交锋在所难免。

症结在于如何称呼他们。不难想象，一旦韩国记者提到“朝鲜”或“来自朝鲜的运动员”，朝鲜运动员会立刻转身离开。在朝鲜领导人金正恩于2023年底正式将朝韩关系描述为“两个敌对国家”的背景下，措辞的选择最近已成为国际体育赛事中一个尤为敏感的问题。

5月20日，在京畿道水原市水原体育中心，朝鲜内乡女子足球俱乐部主教练李裕日（Ri Yu-il）在亚足联女子冠军联赛半决赛对阵水原FC女足的赛前眺望球场。（韩国时报 姜艺珍 摄）

闲聊戛然而止

据多年来多次与朝鲜运动员接触的运动员称，情况并非一直如此。拳击手任爱智（Im Ae-ji）曾入选国家队，但因伤未能参赛；体操运动员吕瑞贞（Yeo Seo-jeong）表示，在2018年雅加达-巨港亚运会上，她们仍然与朝鲜运动员交谈，共同的语言让她们能够互相问候，建立起融洽的关系。但她们注意到，在2023年杭州亚运会上，情况发生了显著变化。

在2023年杭州亚运会和2024年巴黎奥运会预选赛期间，每当韩国记者使用“朝鲜”或“北国”等称谓时，朝鲜女足主教练都坚决反对，坚持只有使用官方名称的记者才会回答问题。今年5月，在内乡女子足球俱乐部夺冠后的新闻发布会上，李裕日教练和队员们甚至在记者使用这些称谓后，中断了问答环节并愤然离场。

但按照他们的要求，将国家名称称为“朝鲜民主主义人民共和国”或“朝鲜”也并非易事。统一部长官郑东荣在部委简报会和其他场合使用“韩朝关系”来描述朝韩关系，从而将这一问题公之于众。然而，总统李在明则敦促各方谨慎行事，称“即使是一个词也可能成为政治争论的焦点”。

有人认为，使用朝鲜的正式名称也可能与韩国宪法相冲突。宪法第三条将朝鲜的领土定义为“朝鲜半岛及其邻近岛屿”，而第四条则规定韩国致力于实现统一。这有助于解释为何使用似乎承认朝鲜是一个独立国家的措辞会引发法律和政治上的敏感性。这也可能解释了为何李明博自上任以来一直使用“北方”和“朝鲜”这两个词。

或许有办法解决这个问题。在5月23日发表于X网站的一篇文章中，李完全避开了提及韩国这个国家。他写道：“衷心祝贺奈戈乡女子足球俱乐部的球员们赢得冠军。足球是圆的，我们还会再见的。”

据说，朝鲜运动员对于新闻发布会上避免提及朝鲜国名的问题也并无异议。

朝鲜最高领导人金正恩（右）于8月16日在平壤马戏剧院观看国家马戏团的演出，当天是朝鲜半岛解放81周年纪念日。这张照片由朝鲜中央通讯社于次日发布。金正恩当天还观看了游泳和跳水比赛。（韩联社）

朝鲜的核自信会延伸到体育领域吗？

但这能解决所有问题吗？未必。朝鲜对韩国运动员和记者的敌意日益明显。专门报道朝鲜新闻的媒体Daily NK也报道称，即将前往日本的代表团已接到指示，要加强“思想纪律”。这其中包括在日本采取严格措施，防止出现任何意识形态偏差或不当行为。朝鲜将日本视为“敌对国家”。

人类不成文的准则认为，国际体育应该能够跨越意识形态的鸿沟，将人们团结起来。2024年巴黎奥运会上，朝韩乒乓球运动员的自拍照之所以成为可能，正是因为他们身处奥运赛场。即使是日本，尽管通常因朝鲜的核武器和导弹计划而对其实施单方面制裁，禁止朝鲜公民入境，但也会为参加体育赛事破例。

专家认为，朝鲜代表团将渴望在本届亚运会上给人留下深刻印象。

“综合来看，包括朝鲜党代会和最高人民会议修改宪法在内的近期事态发展表明，朝鲜民众有一种根深蒂固的自信，这种自信源于‘我们是核大国’的信念，”韩国统一研究院高级研究员洪敏说。

他说：“自新冠疫情爆发以来，朝鲜高度重视体育成就，将其作为加强内部团结和宣传政权的一种手段。因此，朝鲜运动员很可能也会通过比赛和采访中的表现来传递对体制的信心。”

庆南大学远东研究所教授林乙哲对此表示赞同。

他说：“朝鲜现在展现出的自信和自豪感是冷战以来前所未见的。这些奥运会为观察和分析金正恩领导下的朝鲜提供了一个绝佳的机会。”

两位专家都认为，平壤可能会利用亚运会来强化其“朝韩是两个敌对国家”的立场，同时向世界展示自己是一个正常的国家。

因此，本届奥运会将展现朝鲜希望世界如何看待它。仅仅七八年前，朝鲜运动员还能与韩国运动员自由交流。这一次，他们会如何对待韩国运动员和记者呢？这或许会和奖牌争夺战一样引人关注。

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。