Just a few days after returning from Beijing, Kim Jong-un threw a geopolitical bombshell in Pyongyang.
On September 21, 2025, the highest leader of the DPRK stood on the stage of the Supreme People's Conference, declaring with a firm tone that the DPRK was no longer a family, and that the dream of unification had come to an end.
From “one nation, two systems” to “two nations, nothing to do,” the leader completely rewrote decades of political narrative on the Korean Peninsula.
More importantly, this was not a momentary excitement, but a strategic shift after a visit to China, after careful consideration.
Where would a North Korea that completely abandoned its unified and deadly nuclear weapons take the peninsula and even all of Northeast Asia?
North Korea Cuts Its Own “United Illusion”
If in the past few decades, the relationship between the DPRK and the ROK has been like a seemingly separate "brotherhood", then this time, Kim Jong-un personally tore up the "proof of affection" that has already been riddled with holes.
According to the original article, the North Korean leader stressed that South Korea is a "completely different heterogeneous country", and both sides should be legally "completely cut off" and no longer retain any merger fantasies.
This is not just a verbal expression of emotions, but a declaration of legal effect and political determination.Be aware that North Korea has never completely denied the possibility of "national reunification" in official documents.
The "federal unification" model once proposed, although vague, has at least retained some room for fantasy. and now, Kim Jong-un has simply locked the door, welded, and closed.
The South Korean media has reacted to this with extreme vigour, and the Central Daily even called it "a violent betrayal of national identity", and the South Korean academic community has generally believed that this means that North Korea officially abandoned its cultural and institutional ties with the South and set out on the line of complete independence.
Behind this "political break" is actually North Korea's strong prevention psychology against external intervention.
For a long time, U.S. cooperation with South Korea through the “United Vision” has actually put enormous political and military pressure on the DPRK. From the possibility of regime change to the reality of economic blockade, North Korea has always seen the “unity” as a knife hidden behind it.
He wants to completely get rid of this moral abduction, and to completely eliminate the possibility of any external forces interfering with the government on the basis of “national justice.”
This speech occurred at a very delicate time after his visit to China had just ended.
Although North Korea has no explicit Chinese attitude, the confidence and hardness revealed by Kim in his speech makes it difficult not to recall that the visit provided him with some kind of strategic support.In other words, Kim has chosen to officially declare "abandon unification" at this point, and it is clear that it is ready and well-to-do.
Nuclear weapons are the bottom line.
If giving up unification is a breakdown on the political level, then refusing to give up nuclear weapons is the absolute bottom line in military terms.
Kim Jong-un said in his speech that "nuclear weapons are the guarantee of the survival of a country, and any phase-by-phase program is a devastating deception."
This word is said to be a bit unfathomable, directly crushing the US-Korean program of "fase-based denuclearization negotiations" that has been hard-working in the past few years.
North Korea has always been good at building its own security logic with "victim narratives."Kim Jong Un continued to use this statement, portraying the United States as "imperialist hegemony", provoking confrontation on the peninsula for a long time, forcing North Korea to hold a "absolute deterrent" force.
He stressed that as long as the United States does not give up its hostile policy, North Korea will never let its nuclear button become a set-up.
This statement is, in fact, a complete blockade of the US-Korean strategy of "abandoning nuclear weapons in exchange for assistance".
In the past, the trade model of "letting some of the sanctions on Samsung first, and then in exchange for a little technology blockade to relax" is now in the eyes of Kim Jong-un is a "sugar shirt cannon".
More notably, Kim Jong-un has not avoided the real development of the country's nuclear forces.In his speech, he has released a signal: North Korea's nuclear arsenal is not only shaped, but is continuing to grow.
This is not an empty check, but a guarantee of increasing military strength. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, North Korea has indeed made significant progress in the number of nuclear warheads and missile technology in recent years.
In other words, his speech was not only a statement of position, but a “realistic” declaration of nuclear strategy.
The Western media reacted sharply to this.Rarely described the current North-U.S. relationship with “no way back”, but Kim Jong-un obviously didn’t care about these labels.His strategy is clear: since negotiations can’t be replaced with security, it’s with nuclear weapons.
Conversation is possible, but it must be accepted first.
Although Kim Jong-un’s speech was tough, it did not completely close the door to negotiations.
He made it clear that if the United States is willing to recognize the reality of North Korea's nuclear possession and earnestly pursue peace, then Pyongyang is also willing to talk.
This involves the "three cards" in North Korea's hands: nuclear weapons card, ally card and ideology card.
Needless to say, nuclear weapons cards are ballast stone-level existence; The alliance card is an extension of this visit to China. North Korea is trying to find a more stable strategic cooperative relationship between China and Russia, especially in the matter of confronting American hegemony. The positions of the three parties have more and more intersections; The ideological card is the embodiment of North Korea's internal political stability. Kim Jong-un uses anti-American sentiment to rally people's hearts at home and consolidate political power.
From a diplomatic point of view, this strategy of "recognition first, then dialogue" is actually a very typical strategic bidding.
He wanted to raise the starting point of the negotiations to a level that was unacceptable for the United States, thus gaining more initiative. Western media is extremely sensitive to this, commonly referred to as "extortion diplomacy", but from a North Korean perspective, this is only a realistic choice.
There is also a detail that is generally overlooked: Kim Jong-un specifically mentioned “face-to-face negotiations” in his speech.
It is well known that Kim Jong-un and Trump had direct meetings in 2018 and 2019, and although the end was unsuccessful, some “talkable” private channel was established between them.
Now that Trump is back at the White House, North Korea is apparently in the early stages, trying to buri the pen for the next round of “top-level deal.”
conclusion
This speech really changed not only the legal definition of North Korean relations, not only the pattern of negotiations between the DPRK and the United States, but the future direction of the entire Korean Peninsula.
A North Korea that completely abandoned the unified fantasy, vowed to keep the bottom line of nuclear weapons, and demonstrated strongly against U.S. diplomacy, is becoming a new geographic variable.
This is not a simple policy adjustment, but a thorough strategic shift.Kim Jong-un’s speech, not a slogan, not a shuffle, but a new script, “I am not talking about unification, not giving up nuclear, you must first recognize me.”
The old map of the situation on the peninsula has been crushed by him.The next, who will draw new borders, who can hold the initiative to negotiate, and see how the parties will respond.For those nations that still have fantasies, it is time to recognize this increasingly different North Korea again.
Source: 2025-09-22 16:03 PM -- Kim Jong-un: North Korea will never merge, North Korea will absolutely not give up nuclear weapons!