Question: [The Wikipedia article on Korea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea) states that South Koreans call Korea 한국, while north Koreans call it 조선. Do 'Korea', '한국', and '조선' all refer to the same thing? If so, how did the three different names come about?

Answer: 
### Some ethnicity-associated names

* **Korea** originated from the [Goryeo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goryeo) dynasty, from about 10th-14th century.
* **Joseon**, as present in North Korea's name 조선민주주의인민공화국, originated in the later [Joseon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseon) dynasty from about 15th-19th century.
* **Han 한** originated as a native Korean word for "leader" and similar notions, which has been suggested to be related to *khan* (as in [Genghis Khan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan)) and the like found in the hypothetical [Altaic language family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaic_languages). It was used to refer to the *Three Hans* (leaders) which led people who would eventually form the three Korean kingdoms of Baekje 백제, Silla 신라 and Gaya 가야, hence becoming a name for the ethnic group. The word was later transliterated into hanja as 韩 when the Chinese Han script was used for writing Korean, before the invention of hangul.

### The countries' names

* **DPRK**  

Apparently, when DPRK formed, it chose to adopt the name of the last dynasty in Korea, hence *Democratic People's Republic of Joseon*.
* **RoK**  

When RoK formed however, the name which was more politically independent (in the sense that it does not pay homage to any dynasty) and ethnically inclusive (since it was claimed that all Koreans descended from people led by the three *Hans*), was chosen, hence *Republic of Great Han*.
* **English**  

Finally though, Europeans just cannot resist adhering to the name they are used to - *Korea*, so the English name for these countries have *Korea* in place of *Joseon* and *Han*. Not only was their name *Korea* in English, if you look at binomial names (Latin) of some species, the Korean pine is called *Pinus koraiensis*, so you can expect most European languages to call it *Korea*.
* **The [Sinosphere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinosphere)**  

Due to all these words having hanja forms, languages of the Sinosphere do not use the word *Korea* and instead stick to their native forms of the official name:

	+ Simplified Chinese: 大**韩**民国, **朝鲜**民主主义人民共和国
	+ Traditional Chinese/Japanese: 大**韓**民国, **朝鮮**民主主義人民共和国
	+ Vietnamese: **Hàn** Quốc, Cộng Hòa Dân Chủ Nhân Dân **Triều Tiên**

*Note: Due to the recency of the Joseon dynasty, modern South Koreans may still refer to their country as Joseon.*

### Conclusion

In the end, the word *Korea* is used in English, and other European languages, merely for historical reasons. Their names in their native language, and the other languages of the Sinosphere, are more consistent with how Koreans identify themselves, unlike in English.
'Joseon(조선)' is a country that has been destroyed and does not exist at present. In a modern society divided into South and North Korea(북한), there is only North Korea that calls itself Joseon. The official name of Korea (남한, South Korea) is Republic of Korea.