A recording medium and apparatus and method for managing defective areas are discussed. According to an embodiment a controller determining whether or not to replace a defective block with a replacement block when a writing or reading data to or from the optical recording medium, based upon a data type to be written or read, and creating a defect list, the defect list including information to indicate whether or not the defective block is replaced with a replacement block; and a writing reading unit, coupled to the controller, to write or read the data to or from the optical recording medium and storing the defect list to a defect management area of the optical recording medium, according to a control of the controller.