Former flag of the Committee of the Five Provinces of North Korea

The Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces (, literally "The North's Five Provinces Committee") is a South Korean government body under the

Ministry of the Interior and Safety The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS, ) is a branch of the Government of South Korea. The headquarters are in Sejong City. It is responsible for national administration, management of government organizations, and e-government. Furthermo ...

History

Established in 1949, the committee is officially responsible for the administration of the five Korean provinces located entirely north of the

Military Demarcation Line The Military Demarcation Line (MDL), sometimes referred to as the Armistice Line, is the land border or demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea. On either side of the line is the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The MDL and DMZ wer ...

, as the South Korean government formally claims to be the sole legitimate government of whole of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. The South Korean government does not recognise any changes to the borders of the provinces made by North Korea since its establishment. The

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...

appoints governors for each of the five provinces. However, their role is largely symbolic (compare with

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

s), as the territory is under the effective jurisdiction of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. The committee's main practical function is to provide support to

North Korean defectors Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...

living in South Korea, including helping with the resettlement of North Koreans and organizing social events for North Koreans. Despite its name, the committee plays no part in

North Korea–South Korea relations Formerly a single nation that was annexed by Japan in 1910, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into North Korea and South Korea since the end of World War II on 2 September 1945. The two governments were founded in the two regions in 1948, ...

; North Korean affairs are handled by the

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...

. In the event of a North Korean collapse, contingency plans call for a new government body to be set up to administer the North under the leadership of the Unification Minister. In that case, the five governors would have to resign and the committee would be disbanded.

Flags of the five northern Korean provinces

File:Flag of Hamgyŏng-pukto (ROK).svg, North Hamgyeong File:Flag of Hamgyŏng-namdo (ROK).svg, South Hamgyeong File:Flag of Hwanghae-do (ROK).svg,

Hwanghae Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo. History In 139 ...

File:Flag of P'yŏngan-pukto (ROK).svg, North Pyeongan File:Flag of P'yŏngan-namdo (ROK).svg, South Pyeongan

Southern provinces with territory in North Korea

Two South Korean provinces,

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

and

Gangwon Gangwon or Kangwŏn may refer to: * Gangwon Province (historical), the Goryeo, Joseon Dynasty and the Japanese Korean province * Gangwon Province (South Korea), a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. Before the division of Kore ...

, officially have parts of their territory in North Korea. The South Korean government considers the governors of these two provinces the head of their entire province, including the parts in the North. *

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

Gaeseong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close to ...

Gaepung County Kaep'ung-guyŏk is a ward in Kaesong, North Korea. Formerly part of the Kaesong urban area, the county was merged with North Hwanghae when Kaesong was demoted in 2003. However, it was returned to Kaesong Special City in October 2019. The area is t ...

Jangdan County Jangdan County (read as ''Jangdan-gun'' in the Korean language) is a former county in Gyeonggi Province in Korea, which was divided into a northern part and a southern part when the USA and the Soviet Union jointly partitioned the Korean peninsula ...

claimed * Gangwon Province - from Kangwon province -

Gimhwa County Kimhwa County was a historical county of Korea that lies on the border of modern-day South and North Korea. Kimhwa County reorganized in Chuncheon in 1985, then in Gangwon Province the following year. Kumsong County merged into Kimhwa County i ...

, Icheon County, Tongcheon County, Pyeonggang County and

Hoeyang County Hoeyang County is a ''kun'', or county, in Kangwŏn province, North Korea. It was established in a general reorganization of local government in 1952. Geography The county's area is primarily mountainous, with the Taebaek and Kwangju ranges bot ...

claimed

References

External links

Official website of The Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces
{{authority control

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Korean irredentism Governments in exile States and territories established in 1949

History

Flags of the five northern Korean provinces

Southern provinces with territory in North Korea

See also

References

External links