In a significant departure from its longstanding objective, North Korea, led by Kim Jong-un, has officially renounced the pursuit of peaceful reunification with South Korea. Instead, Kim Jong-un issued a threat of subjugation through potential nuclear conflict, marking a profound shift in the dynamics of the Korean Peninsula.
Over the past decades, North Korea’s stance towards South Korea has fluctuated, oscillating between branding the South as its “sworn” and “principal enemy” and engaging in dialogue regarding potential reunification. However, according to reports from state media on Tuesday, North Korea has formally discarded peaceful reunification as a core policy goal. Kim Jong-un asserted that the North no longer views the South as a partner for reconciliation and reunification but rather as an adversary to be subdued, even if it requires resorting to nuclear warfare.
The economic disparity and deepening mutual animosity between the two Koreas in recent decades have rendered the prospect of reunification increasingly unlikely. Kim Jong-un unveiled this new stance in a party meeting at the end of the previous month and reiterated it in a speech to the North’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, on Monday.
In a further display of commitment to this policy shift, Kim Jong-un ordered the revision of North Korea’s constitution and propaganda guidelines. References to “peaceful reunification,” “great national unity,” and South Koreans as “fellow countrymen” are to be removed. Instead, North Koreans are to be instilled with the perspective that the South is a foreign country and the most hostile state.
Expressing dissatisfaction with South Korea’s deepening military alliance with Washington, Kim Jong-un has criticised joint military drills between the allies, deeming them a dangerous provocation. He justified the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal as a response to this perceived threat, warning of potential use against the South if necessary.
Endorsing Kim Jong-un’s new policy, the North Korean parliament dismantled government agencies responsible for promoting exchanges with the South. Additionally, radio broadcasts, propaganda websites advocating Korean reunification, and monuments dedicated to the cause have been shut down. South Korean officials have criticised these actions, with South Korean leader Yoon condemning Kim Jong-un’s policy as “anti-nation” and “anti-history.”
The Korean Peninsula, divided into pro-Soviet North and pro-U.S. South at the end of World War II, experienced the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, resulting in an ongoing truce and technically leaving the two nations in a state of war. Despite frequent accusations of invasion plotting, both sides had previously called for peaceful reunification until Kim Jong-un’s recent policy shift.
Responding to Kim Jong-un’s speech, South Korean leader Yoon rejected the threat of “choosing between war and peace,” asserting that such intimidation would no longer be effective. Kim Jong-un’s policy shift follows the breakdown of direct diplomacy with former President Donald J. Trump in 2019, leading to a lack of agreement on denuclearization and the lifting of international sanctions. Since then, North Korea has refrained from dialogue with Washington and expressed mistrust towards both the South’s liberals and conservatives.
Kim Jong-un’s focus has shifted towards enhancing North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, marking a departure from the previous policy of peaceful reunification. Analysts interpret this shift as a strategic realignment in response to the inherent contradictions involved in threatening fellow countrymen with nuclear weapons. With the abandonment of the idea of South-North reunification, the North now defines the South as an enemy state with which it has no diplomatic ties and is in a state of war.
