Kim Jong Un’s Hostile Move. Will South Korea Finally Fight Back?

North Korea-the secretive state in the world, surprising the world in a rare step forward and amending its constitution to become an act. This fantastic move labelled its southern neighbour, South Korea, as a “hostile state.” It is in this sequence that the rupture of rhetoric and military squabbles follows between Koreas.

A Brief History of North and South Korea 

It is only with this proper historical background that one can fully appreciate the insight of the current stance of North Korea. The division of Korea emerged as a result of the event following World War II when the United States and the Soviet Union occupied the southern and northern sections of that country. As a result, two separate governments came into being: the Republic of Korea, South Korea, backed by the United States, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union.

Then, war again boiled over in 1950 with the Korean War, which lasted for three years and took millions of lives. As of this writing, no peace treaty was ever signed, so technically the two K’s are technically still at war. A heavily fortified border now separates the two countries, called the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

Throughout the years, the relationship between both Koreas has constantly drifted from engagements to conflicts. Indeed, South Korea spearheaded reconciliation with the North in the late 1990s and early 2000s during the “Sunshine Policy.”

This policy has brought cooperation, especially of the Kaesong Industrial Complex economic venture and family members getting back together who were separated during the Korean War. North Korea’s efforts at this time, however, were rarely appreciated since they continued to move forward with their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, constantly testing the patience of South Korea and the international community.

The Way to Constitutional Reform

The constitutional revision of North Korea seems to have occurred in a vacuum. Tensions had been simmering since the start of the summits by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2018, raising hopes for peace in the region. Hopes were dashed when North Korea resumed missile tests, and the South Korean government, realizing pressure from the United States was not going to let up, resumed military exercises on the peninsula.

In 2024, the North Korean leaders announced that they were giving up on any notion of reunification on peaceful terms with their southern neighbours. North Korea leader Kim Jong Un accused South Korea of colluding with the United States in the plot to unseat his regime. This ended the long history of rhetoric from both Koreas where, despite enmity with each other, both sides had shared an objective namely reunification at some point in the future.

In January 2024, at a session of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, Kim Jong Un demanded that all formulations of reunification be stricken from the country’s constitution. The South Korean state, he said, had ceased to be a possible partner and become an enemy. On October 27, 2024, the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, officially approved the constitution amendment designating South Korea a “hostile state.”

Greatest Constitutional Changes

The most striking change was that South Korea was officially declared a “hostile state.” Such designation provides North Korea with a legal argumentation for treating South Korea as an enemy and receiving justification for, among other things, military provocations and removing communication lines of both koreas.

Reunification is not even mentioned, as traditionally put forth by both Koreas, a dramatic departure from the past when North Korea, despite its bellicose rhetoric, at least nominally was an advocate for the reunification of the peninsula under its own terms.

Constitutional revision also includes changes in North Korea’s territorial claims, particularly as far as maritime boundaries are concerned. For instance, it will make the already tense situation on waters believed to be disputed even worse and will suggest increases in disputes over territories like those defined within the Northern Limit Line, a de facto boundary between the two Koreas since the two are technically still at war and in which bloody battles have previously occurred.

Impact of Constitutional Reforms

The new North Korean constitutional changes may have a severe impact bearing future international relations and affect the Korean peninsula directly.

Declare South Korea as an enemy state, and the Soviet Union had created grounds for further military provocations. By the way, such acts have already been implemented into action. Just days after the constitutional revision was declared, North Korean forces began demolishing pieces of the road and railway network that connected the two Koreas. On the face of it, the action was symbolic. From a pragmatic view, it was one of the steps towards the “phased complete separation” from the South which North Korea has long advocated.

Dismantling inter-Korean infrastructures, possibly, is one concrete indication that North Korea will not hold anything together. This even tends to escalate military tensions along the DMZ due to the fact that each side has concentration of military forces all the time. There can be miscalculations and accidents, which may transmogrify into a broader conflict.

Constitutional changes may also impact the nuclear policy of North Korea. North Korea may feel legitimised in continuing or even upping its nuclear armament to check South Korea, since the latter is now declared officially an enemy under the new constitution. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has constantly repeated that nuclear weapons have to be maintained to save his regime from what it perceives as threats from outside. The new constitution could now legally sanction the use of nuclear arms against South Korea in case of war.

In all likelihood, the nuclear ambitions of North Korea will continue to make diplomatic efforts to denuclearize murky. For a long time now, the international community, and the United States and South Korea, have maintained dialogue with North Korea to try to restrict its nuclear capabilities. The constitutional revision most likely suggests that North Korea is not inclined to give up nuclear weapons anytime soon because it perceives them to be essential to its survival in light of an anti-communist South.

Constitutional reforms sanction the dying last remnants of any hope for cooperation between the two Koreas at least in the near term. South Korea’s government, headed by President Yoon Suk-yeol, had condemned North Korea’s move but continued pushing toward peaceful reunification. Now that Pyongyang officially rejects reunification and treats the South as an enemy, the prospects of meaningful dialogue between the two Koreas seem none too bright.

The impact of ending the inter-Korean peace process will be felt much farther across the Korean Peninsula. Economic cooperation, which was embodied by a common project like the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a mere dream to live at peace, is, to an extent, faded away. Questions arise about humanitarian exchange like whether family reunions between victims, separated by the Korean War, can even be dealt with more rarely than before.

North Korean constitutional revision is as much an issue between the two Koreas as it is a regional and global issue. The United States, hosting part of South Korean bases and shared defence treaty with South Korea, would probably be very concerned about the constitutional changes. Any renewed escalation of the tensions on the Korean Peninsula would encourage the U.S. to increase its military presence here and put pressure on North Korea’s relationship.

Another country likely to be affected by the changes in the constitution is China, North Korea’s closest ally. On the surface, China, though supporting North Korea over many years, has nevertheless encouraged stability on the Korean Peninsula. If North Korea declares South Korea a hostile country, this may complicate China’s efforts to achieve peace in this part of the world. It remains to be seen how China would respond to such changes as it balances its strategic interests against its long history of supporting North Korea.

Historical Relevance of Constitutional Renewal

Updating North Korea’s constitution is, in itself, a momentous event not only for its immediate consequences but also as part of the long history for North Korea in being a part of the Korean Peninsula. After the end of the Korean War, both Korea’s expressed reunification as a goal, though they had differing visions on how reunification was to come about. North Korea makes a statement explicitly abandoning this goal by formally that there is no longer any way to peaceful coexistence with the South.

This development is also part of deeper North Korea trends inside and out. While Kim Jong Un has accelerated the emphasis on military power-most specifically the nuclear weapons program-under his rule, little thought has been given to the pursuit of diplomacy by the North Korean government. In this regard, the constitutional amendments fit very well into this pattern of self-reliance and a belief in military strength, as they consolidate a legal context for perceivably viewing South Korea as an adversary rather than a probable partner in peace.

This constitutional amendment by North Korea, declaring South Korea an enemy state, is such a dramatic role reversal in the relationship between the two Koreas. North Korea ended the reuni-fication goal and branded its southern neighbour an enemy, finishing itself off into an adversarial posturing that bodes ill for regional stability.

It is imperative that, in case of this shift, profound consequences be acknowledged-an impending struggle on the Korean Peninsula while nuclear escalation may be feared. Obviously enough, this raises querries for everyone affected, especially for the United States and South Korea, to navigate between deterring North Korean belligerents while pursuing peace.

Things can only get worse for sure, but one thing is certain: the Korean Peninsula is entering a new and unknown chapter where danger and opportunity coexist. The world waits with bated breath for how this will play out-with the potential changes North Korea may bring about through its constitutional amendments and what it has in store for its future.