SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korea dropped the label of "main enemy" on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the first time in many years in its new defense white paper published on Friday.

    However, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) said it will continue to call the DPRK an "enemy" in its internal documents, in consideration of Pyongyang's pursuing of nuclear weapons program, according to the white paper.

    The South Korean government suspended publication of its defense white paper in 2001 after a dispute over the term "main enemy" between the two countries.

    The MND started labeling the DPRK as its "main enemy" in its 1995 white paper, a year after the DPRK nuclear crisis first flared.

    Since then, the "main enemy" term became a subject of controversy, especially after the leaders of the two countries held historic summit in Pyongyang in 2000, which was followed by aflurry of reconciliation projects. Enditem