Erasing "Unification"? North Korea Changes Panmunjom Facility Name from "Tongilgak" to "Panmungwan"

It has been confirmed that North Korea changed the name of "Tongilgak," a facility on the northern side of Panmunjom, to "Panmungwan" last year. The Joint Security Area at Panmunjom has historically served as the venue for inter-Korean talks, but North Korea now appears to be engaged in an effort to erase the concept of "unification."

The view of Tongilgak on the north side of Panmunjom, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do. /Photo by Joint Press Corps

On May 19, Koo Byungsam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, responded to related questions during a regular briefing, stating, "(North Korea) removed the Tongilgak signboard in the northern area of Panmunjom in January last year, and confirmed that they installed a new signboard reading 'Panmungwan' in August last year." He added, "Since last year, North Korea has been pursuing the erasure of unification in line with its hostile two-state theory, and we view this as part of that initiative."

Tongilgak is a building constructed in 1985 that was used for inter-Korean talks held on the northern side of Panmunjom. Similarly, on the southern side of Panmunjom in South Korea, there is a facility called the "House of Peace." In 2018, the second inter-Korean summit between former President Moon Jaein and North Korean leader Kim Jongun was held there. That same year, working-level talks for the first North Korea-U.S. summit also took place at Tongilgak.