What is meant by the ‘two enemy states?’

While watching inter-Korean relations from a long-term perspective, we need to manage peace and security toward the goal of unification.

Han Ki-beomThe author is a former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service. Before North Korea provoked the buffer zone near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea with artillery shelling at the beginning of the year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a “fundamental shift in its South Korea policy” at the party’s plenary session in December. In the meeting, Kim said that South Korea’s confrontational maneuvers had led to the “consolidation of inter-Korean relations as between two enemy states,” suggesting his rejection of South Korea as a partner for unification through reconciliation and cooperation.

Kim ordered his subordinates to “establish an organization to help the military subdue the southern half.” This is an order to scrap reconciliatory and cooperative tactics with the South — which existed as rhetoric, at least — and a manifestation of his determination to unify South Korea by using force. Kim mentioned three reasons for the shift.

First, he criticized Seoul’s North Korea policy of consistently pursuing reunification by absorption. North Korea claimed that it had gained support with the unification of “one people, one nation and two systems” but failed to follow through due to interference from South Korea. Kim claimed that South Korea’s previous policies toward North Korea consistently sought the collapse of the North Korean regime, as the South’s position of unification by liberal democracy remains the same, even after more than 10 changes of puppet regimes.” Kim criticized the South’s Constitution for clearly stating that, “The territory of the Republic of Korea shall be the Korean Peninsula and its islands.” He insisted that both the liberals and the conservatives have the ambitions to topple the North Korean regime.

Second, he described South Korea as “simply a colony of America,” adding that South Korea cannot be a partner for dialogue. “South Korea is an incompetent regime where politics is missing, overall society is blurred by the Yankee culture and security totally dependent on America,” he said. “I would not discuss unification with people who are merely a colony of the United States.”

Third, Kim said that South Korea is not a counterpart to discuss reunification, considering its national dignity and status. He claimed that North Korea is a nuclear power and a strategic country that influences the international order. When Kim Jong-un revised the Workers’ Party’s constitution in January 2021, he added the goal of “suppressing fundamental military threats with strong national defense.” When legislating military policy based on nuclear weapons in September 2022, Kim called it “a means of territorial completion.”

At this point, is Kim’s intention to define inter-Korean relations as “hostile” and to shift his stance toward the South? Above all, he wants to justify the threat of a nuclear attack by removing the confines of the same people. While continuing to advance nuclear weapons and missiles, Kim is justifying nuclear development by revising the party constitution, enacting laws on nuclear armament and shifting stances towards the South. He seeks to dispel admiration for the South within the North.

The intention is to set a frame of “war or peace” targeting South Korea. Kim wants to dampen the South’s hard-line North Korea policy by inducing internal conflict as the April parliamentary election nears. It is highly likely that the North will launch multiple high-intensity provocations this spring or summer so that the frame can take effect.

How should we prepare for the North’s shift and its threat of nuclear war? The military, civilian and government preparedness should be enhanced, and the North’s intention should be accurately delivered to the people so that we don’t fall for its tactics. I also would advise that the government consistently use a broader and longer-term policy.

The North Korean leader is not the only policy target of the South. The government should evenly deal with three entities — not only Kim Jong-un, but also the powerful elites and ordinary people. We must not consider peace and reunification as mutually exclusive concepts. While watching inter-Korean relations from a long-term perspective, we need to manage peace and security toward the goal of unification.

Above all, consistency is crucial for any policy to succeed. Even if North Korea’s leadership is erratic, the South must not be swayed by each move. We must establish security, manage peace through dialogue and continue to strive for unification.

Translated by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.