North Korea's renames ruling party think tank to reflect hostile policy toward South

North Korea recently renamed its ruling party's think tank on inter-Korean affairs as the "Institute of Enemy State Studies," the South's Unification Ministry said Monday, signaling an official hardening of its stance against Seoul.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches artillery firing drills involving front-line units on March 7 in this photo carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency the next day. [YONHAP]

North Korea recently renamed its ruling party's think tank on inter-Korean affairs as the "Institute of Enemy State Studies," the South's Unification Ministry said Monday, signaling an official hardening of its stance against Seoul.

“There used to be an entity named the 'National Reunification Institute' under the North’s United Front Department of the Workers’ Party,” said Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry, during a press briefing on Monday. The United Front Department is a party organ in charge of South Korean affairs.

“It is presumed that the United Front Department has been renamed the ‘Enemy Guidance Bureau’ and accordingly changed the name of the ‘National Reunification Institute’ to the ‘Institute of Enemy State Studies,’” Koo added.

Previously, the National Reunification Institute was tasked with analyzing the South Korean political climate, compiling policy resources for North Korea’s South Korea strategy, assessing key South Korean figures and monitoring the policies of the United States, Japan and other nations related to the Korean Peninsula. Now, the institute appears focused on a more aggressive approach toward Seoul.

The new English name for the think tank was first unveiled Sunday in North Korea's official newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun. It reflects the regime leader Kim Jong-un's declaration last year of a "two hostile states" policy, formally reframing South Korea as an adversarial state rather than a potential partner for dialogue.

In its first official report after its renaming, the "Institute of Enemy State Studies" published a white paper "disclosing the criminal colors and miserable plight" of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the Rodong SInmun said. The document fiercely criticized South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling him a "puppet" and accusing him of pursuing "self-destructive actions" to boost his low approval ratings by antagonizing North Korea.

The report specifically denounced a recent incident in which South Korea allegedly sent unmanned aerial vehicles to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets in Pyongyang, labeling it as "a provocative, wanton violation of the sovereignty of the DPRK," referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The institute claimed the act was a "last-ditch effort by the Yoon Suk Yeol regime seeking to defuse its worst ruling crisis” brought about by its “bankrupt internal and external policies.”

The paper warned that such provocations only serve to "prolong [Yoon's] remaining days full of crimes," adding that his administration’s approach has surpassed previous South Korean leaders in "anti-communism, war-mongering, dictatorship and maladministration."

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]