On September 22nd, North Korea and South Korea suddenly gave similar answers to the issue of "reunification" on the same day.
North Korea’s highest leader, Kim Jong-un, established the country’s position of “non-fusion” in legal form at the highest people’s conference in Pyongyang for the first time; and in Seoul, South Korea’s unification also rarely expressed “no pursuit of absorptive unification” and expressed “respect” for the DPRK regime.
Kim Jong-un is also rarely referring to Trump's "beautiful memories", this almost synchronous statement, not only broke the atmosphere of confrontation with North Korea over the past few years, but also made the outside world re-focus on a often forgotten topic: will the US leader shake hands again?
Suddenly, the North said to me.
In the past decade, inter-Korean relations have been almost "frozen".
Since the Hanoi meeting broke down in 2019, North Korea has gradually returned to a hard line, while South Korea has turned to the position of "restricting first and then communicating" with North Korea after the Yoon Seok-yue government came to power. The two sides have continued to confront each other in the fields of borders, military affairs, and propaganda.
However, it was on September 22 that North Korea suddenly announced that it would write "North Korean Disunity" into the law, making it clear that North Korea no longer seeks national reunification and does not intend to treat South Korea by means of force, this position was institutionalized for the first time.
Kim Jong-un emphasized at the meeting that the DPRK and the ROK are two sovereign countries and cannot be confused. This change in wording means that the DPRK has taken the initiative to dismantle the "theoretical framework" of the discourse of reunification, and it is also sending a signal to the outside world that the DPRK no longer regards reunification as its policy goal.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s unified spokesman Binh Shui replied at a routine press conference that South Korea respects North Korea’s political system and does not intend to unification through absorption.
This is clearly different from the tone of the previous policies emphasizing that "realizing unity is the mission of the nation", and the signals released are more pragmatic and low-tone.
This attitude change of "you take your Yangguan Road, I cross my wooden bridge" is no accident. In the past few years, misjudgments and temptations between the DPRK and the ROK have been escalating, and incidents such as military friction, balloon provocation and border expansion have occurred frequently.
Today, North Korea uses legal forms to clear the borders, while South Korea has said that it is no longer proactive in promoting the unification issue, and the two sides are trying to warm up the situation, leaving room for the next stage of the game.
This synchronous shift, in fact, is the closest time since the Panmunjom talks in 2018, the two sides in strategic intentions, although there is no shaking of hands and peace of the picture, but the silence behind the words, has formed the basis for the cooling.
Kim Jong-un suddenly "nostalgic"
At the same time as relations with North Korea appeared to be subtly loosened, Kim Jong-un also took the opportunity to send a signal to the United States that was "both hard and obsolete".
In his speech, he reiterated that North Korea will continue to adhere to its nuclear weapons self-defense stance and reject any negotiations on denuclearization as a prerequisite.
This statement is not surprising. After all, North Korea has been strengthening its nuclear capability in recent years, and several missile tests have proved that it does not intend to back down militarily.
Surprisingly, however, Kim Jong-un suddenly mentioned the term “beautiful memories” to describe his past communications with former US President Trump.
The term rarely appears in North Korea’s official discourse, especially when it comes to the United States, it’s not just an expression of emotions, it’s more like a political hint.
Recalling the two meetings between Kim Jong-un and Trump in 2018 and 2019, despite the failure to reach a substantive agreement, the communication between them once broke the pattern of hostility for decades.
Trump even suspended some joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea in an attempt to solve the DPRK nuclear issue by "trading".
Now Kim Jong-un is publicly repeating the old thing, apparently giving a signal that if the conditions are appropriate, North Korea will not rule out again "sitting down and talking."
However, this time he also clarified the premise that if the United States continues to adhere to the old path of "first giving up nuclear, then dialogue", North Korea will not participate in any form of consultation.
In other words, what Kim Jong-un wants is a dialogue based on recognizing North Korea's existing nuclear status, which is undoubtedly a difficult condition for the United States to swallow.
This strategy of "holding nuclear weapons while showing goodwill" is actually North Korea's consistent diplomatic approach in recent years.
On the one hand, by enhancing nuclear capabilities to ensure its own security, on the other hand, through limited diplomatic language to release mitigation signals, strive to re-establish a channel of direct dialogue with the United States.
When will “Tokyo” come?
It is obviously no coincidence that North Korea took the initiative to throw out the card of "beautiful memories". Trump is actively building momentum for the next general election.
Trump has repeatedly mentioned his "personal relationship" with Kim Jong-un, and boasts that he is the only US president who can deal with North Korea. This "human favor card" style is also Kim Jong-un's familiar communication method.
Therefore, the possibility of restarting high-level contacts between the United States and the DPRK will be greatly increased, especially in the context that the DPRK has publicly stated that it will no longer seek the reunification of the peninsula.
This diplomatic approach does not emphasize values first, but pays more attention to immediate interests and political results, which is just in line with Kim Jong-un's current demands.
However, the obstacles can't be ignored. The attitude of the United States towards the DPRK is inconsistent, and the differences between the two parties on the DPRK issue are still obvious, which restricts the kinetic energy of any president to unilaterally promote negotiations.
Furthermore, North Korea’s missile test history remains an obstacle at the negotiating table.
U.S. military and intelligence concerns about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities will not diminish, especially in the absence of substantial concessions, and even a resumption of dialogue does not mean an easy deal.
While the Chinese side has always adhered to the position of political settlement, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jianquan in the recent routine press conference called on the U.S. side "to face the fundamental contradiction of the security issue of the peninsula", pointed out that North Korea continues to worry about the US-Korean military presence, and advocated to reduce misjudgment through dialogue.
This position also objectively provides room for Kim Jong Un’s “negotiating gesture.”
The situation is slow, but it is far from stable
The unanimous stance of the DPRK and the ROK on the issue of reunification has indeed reduced the risk of military conflict in the short term, but this does not mean that the situation will be calm from now on.
North Korea’s incorporation of “non-fusion” into the legal system could be seen as a reduction, but could also serve as a basis for further strengthening institutional independence in the future.
Although South Korea's expression of reunification has turned moderate, its strategic core has not changed, and it still takes maintaining the security of the peninsula as its primary goal. Kim Jong-un's "softness with hardness" towards the United States is both a temptation and an active plan.
North Korea obviously doesn’t want to continue to be marginalized, rather than passively wait for the U.S. to choose to talk or fight, but it has to proactively set an agenda to break the current diplomatic impasse in an outdated way.
As for whether the "Turkish" will really be performed, it is also necessary to observe whether there are new changes in the timeline.
However, it is foreseeable that the situation on the peninsula will enter a delicate stage of reconstruction in the future, and the simple confrontation between the enemy and ourselves in the past is being replaced by more complicated strategic adjustment.
reference
Kim Jong-un: North Korea will never merge, North Korea will never give up nuclear weapons!
North Korea "will absolutely not give up nuclear weapons", China: hopes relevant parties look at the root and root of the peninsula problem
2025-09-22 16:54 · China Youth News