South Korea should ditch its designation of North Korea as the “main enemy,” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday, arguing that replacing confrontation-based language should be the first step toward rebuilding inter-Korean trust.

Speaking at a policy briefing in Seoul, Chung said the two Koreas should begin by “calling each other by name” and abandon rhetoric fueling confrontation and hostility.

Expressions like “main enemy” should be avoided to achieve genuine mutual respect, he told news reporters the previous day, adding that he would pursue “constructive discussions” on the issue.

The official designation was first included in South Korea’s 1995 Defense