North Korea’s UN Mission Upset State Department Will Not Use Official Name

Here is the stupidest dispute yet from North Korea with the United States:

North Korea demanded an apology from the United States on Wednesday for what it called “insolent outrageous behavior” in refusing to refer to the country by its official name — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korean counsellor Ri Song Chol made the demand at a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly committee dealing with relations that the United States, calling the Trump administration’s action a serious political issue “related to sovereignty of an independent member state of the United Nations.”

He said the administration is driven by “dishonest and impure motivation to politicize every single protocol issue.”

Ri said his mission made a routine request to the U.S. Mission to renew a tax exemption card for one of its diplomats in early December and was very surprised when a week later the new card came back with the country’s name as “North Korea.” The cards allow U.N. diplomats to make purchases without paying tax.

The mission assumed it was a “technical mistake,” Ri said, but was shocked to hear from the U.S. Mission that the State Department in Washington refused to change the country’s name to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

He quoted a reply from the U.S. Mission saying “our DC office” said names on credentials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea “indicate North Korea which is the conventional short abbreviation … so the tax card will remain the same.”  [Associated Press]

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