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North Korea abandons reunification with ‘hostile’ South in constitutional shift
Analysts warn that the constitutional revision, which includes a new sea border, could usher in an ‘endless cycle of tit-for-tat exchanges’
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North Korea is set to adopt a new constitution that designates the South as a “hostile” nation and redraws maritime boundaries, a shift that analysts warn could unravel decades of cautious diplomacy and escalate military tensions.
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The Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, was due to convene on Monday to formalise leader Kim Jong-un’s directive from January, which called for the removal of constitutional language that framed inter-Korean relations as a connection between two parts of the same nation.
Article 9 of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea constitution currently states that it seeks to achieve socialism “in the northern half of Korea” and seeks “reunification on the principle of independence, peaceful reunification, and great national unity”.
“Constitutional amendments defining inter-Korean ties as two hostile states and other related measures are expected,” Koo Byung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, told journalists on Monday.
When exactly the move would formally occur is uncertain, however. “It’s hard to predict whether it will be done today or tomorrow”, he said.
Analysts expect the amended constitution to include clauses defining North Korea as a “separate socialist state”, signalling a definitive break from any historical or ethnic ties with the South.
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