Editing Korean reunification (section)

==Current status==
The nature of unification, i.e. through North Korean collapse, South Korean collapse, or the formation of two systems under a united federation, is still a topic of intense political debate and even conflict among interested parties, which include both Koreas, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR300/RR331/RAND_RR331.pdf |title=Preparing for the Possibility of a North Korean Collapse |first=Bruce W. |last=Bennett |date=2013 |publisher=RAND Corporation |access-date=2015-03-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319062410/http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR300/RR331/RAND_RR331.pdf |archive-date=2015-03-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24182193 |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Doomsday scenario plan would divide North Korea |date=25 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925042132/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24182193 |archive-date=25 September 2013 }}</ref>

Relations between the two Koreas have been strained, with conflict between the two coming to a head such as in the enforcement of the colonial era National Security Law in South Korea which led to the arrest of South Korean pro-reunification activist [[Roh Su-hui]], [[ROKS Cheonan sinking|suspected torpedoing of the ROKS ''Cheonan'']]<ref>{{cite news|title=Seoul reaffirms N. Korea's torpedo attack in final report |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/09/205_72997.html |newspaper=[[The Korea Times]] |access-date=14 September 2010 |date=13 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916193320/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/09/205_72997.html |archive-date=16 September 2010 }}</ref> and the [[bombardment of Yeonpyeong|bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10130413 |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Q&A: Inter-Korean crisis |date=2010-12-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209044918/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10130413 |archive-date=2010-12-09 }}</ref> both in 2010, the rocket launches [[Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3|in April]] and [[Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2|December]] of 2012 and [[2013 North Korean nuclear test|North Korea's third nuclear test]] in 2013. Kim Jong Un's sudden accession and limited experience governing have also stoked fears about power struggles among different factions leading to future instability on the Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://royce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=273163 |title=Kim death threatens chaos for US policy |first=Shaun |last=Tandon |agency=AFP |publisher=U.S. Representative Ed Royce, 39th District of California |date=2011-12-20 |access-date=9 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307112634/http://royce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=273163 |archive-date=2014-03-07 }}</ref>

Reunification has remained a long-term goal for the governments of both North and South Korea. North Korean leader [[Kim Jong Un]] made calls in his 2012 New Year's Day speech to "remove confrontation" between the two countries and implement [[Inter-Korean summits|previous joint agreements]] for increased economic and political cooperation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harlan |first=Chico |title=In New Year's speech, N. Korea's Kim says he wants peace with South |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |location=Seoul |date=1 January 2013 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-new-years-speech-n-koreas-kim-says-he-wants-peace-with-south/2013/01/01/bce3a4dc-53dd-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108225910/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-new-years-speech-n-koreas-kim-says-he-wants-peace-with-south/2013/01/01/bce3a4dc-53dd-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html |archive-date=8 January 2013 }}</ref> The South Korean [[Ministry of Unification]] redoubled their efforts in 2011 and 2012 to raise awareness of the issue, launching a variety show (''Miracle Audition'') and an Internet sitcom with pro-unification themes.<ref name="Wary">{{cite news|last=Harlan |first=Chico |title=South Korea's young people are wary of unification |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |location=Seoul |date=17 October 2011 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/south-korean-youth-grow-wary-of-unification/2011/10/14/gIQA3ujmqL_story.html |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720025059/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/south-korean-youth-grow-wary-of-unification/2011/10/14/gIQA3ujmqL_story.html |archive-date=20 July 2012 }}</ref><ref name="UnifTV">{{cite news|last1=Strober |first1=Jason |last2=Hugh-Jones |first2=Rob |title=Will young South Koreans watch 'unification TV'? |work=PRI's The World |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=4 December 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15537467 |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107121028/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15537467 |archive-date=7 January 2012 }}</ref> The Ministry already promotes curriculum in elementary schooling, such as a government-issued textbook about North Korea titled "We Are One" and reunification-themed arts and crafts projects.<ref name="Wary" />

===2018–19 Korean peace process===
In Kim's 2018 New Year's address, a Korean-led reunification was repeatedly mentioned and an unexpected proposal was made for the North's participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics that were held in [[Pyeongchang County]] of South Korea, a significant shift after several years of increasing hostilities, the [[2018–19 Korean peace process]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nkleadershipwatch.org/2018/01/01/new-years-address|title=New Year's Address|date=2018-01-01|work=North Korea Leadership Watch|access-date=2018-02-10|language=en-US}}</ref>  Subsequent meetings between North and South led to the announcement that the two Koreas would march together with a unified flag in the Olympics' Opening Ceremony and form a unified ice hockey team, with a total of 22 North Korean athletes participating in various other competitions including figure skating, short track speed skating, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/story/north-korea-calls-for-reunification-with-south-korea-11221519|title=North Korea Calls for Reunification with South Korea|date=2018-01-25|work=Sky News|access-date=2018-11-19|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/news/ioc-president-bach-says-pyeongchang-olympics-can-send-message-of-peace-to-world|title=IOC President Bach Says PyeongChang Olympics Can Send 'Message of Peace' to World.|date=2018-11-19|work=International Olympic Committee|access-date=2018-11-19|language=en|archive-date=2018-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421174247/https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/news/ioc-president-bach-says-pyeongchang-olympics-can-send-message-of-peace-to-world|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In April 2018, at a summit in [[Panmunjom]], Kim Jong Un and South Korean President [[Moon Jae-in]] signed a deal committing to finally seal peace between both Koreas by the end of the year. Both leaders also symbolically crossed each other's borders, marking the first time a South Korean president crossed the North border and vice versa. Kim stated that the North will start a process of [[Nuclear disarmament|denuclearization]], which was supported by then U.S. President [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/27/north-south-korea-summit-leaders-promise-lasting-peace-denuclearisation-kim-jong-un-moon-jae-in|title=North and South Korean leaders promise 'lasting peace' for peninsula|newspaper=The Guardian|first1=Benjamin|last1=Haas|first2=Justin|last2=McCurry|first3=David|last3=Smith|date=April 27, 2018|access-date=May 2, 2018}}</ref> In 2019, Moon Jae-in proposed reunification of the Korean peninsula by 2045.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCurry |first1=Justin |date=15 August 2019 |title=Korean peninsula will be united by 2045, says Seoul amid Japan row |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/15/korean-peninsula-will-be-united-by-2045-says-seoul-amid-japan-row |access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref> The peace talks led to nothing,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Ellen |title=North Korea States It Will Never Give Up Nuclear Weapons |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/north-korea-states-it-will-never-give-nuclear-weapons |website=www.csis.org |date=9 September 2022 |access-date=September 18, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> as North Korea continued forward with their nuclear program, despite former U.S. President Donald Trump showcasing it as a considerable win.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/20/north-korea-trump-advance-nuclear-ambitions|title=North Korea Continues to Flout Trump, Advance Nuclear Ambitions|newspaper=Foreign Policy|first=Colum|last=Lynch|date=April 20, 2020|access-date=December 11, 2020}}</ref>

=== The North's abandonment of peaceful reunification; the South revises plan (2024–present) ===
In December 2023, during a speech at the 9th plenum of the [[8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea]], Kim called for a "fundamental turnabout" in North Korea's stance towards South Korea, calling the South the "enemy".<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last1=Seo |first1=Heather |date=31 December 2023 |title=North Korea says it will no longer seek reunification with South Korea, will launch new spy satellites in 2024 |language=en |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/31/asia/north-korea-reconciliation-south-korea-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> He stated "the party's comprehensive conclusion after reviewing decades-long inter-Korean relations is that reunification can never be achieved with those ROK riffraffs that defined the 'unification by absorption' and 'unification under [[liberal democracy]]' as their state policy", which he said is in "sharp contradiction with what our line of national reunification was: one nation, one state with two systems".<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Kim |first=Jeongmin |date=1 January 2024 |title=Why North Korea declared unification 'impossible,' abandoning decades-old goal |work=[[NK News]] |url=https://www.nknews.org/2024/01/why-north-korea-declared-unification-impossible-abandoning-decades-old-goal/ |access-date=1 January 2024}}</ref>

Kim cited [[Constitution of South Korea|South Korean constitution]]'s claims over the entire Korean Peninsula and South Korean President [[Yoon Suk Yeol]]'s policy towards the north as evidence that South Korea is an unsuitable partner for reunification.<ref name=":3" /> He said the relations between the two Koreas currently were "states hostile to each other and the relations between two belligerent states" and no longer ones that are "consanguineous or homogeneous",<ref>{{cite news |date=31 December 2023 |title=Reunification with South? No, says North Korea's Kim Jong-un |language=en |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |agency=dpa |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3246812/kim-jong-un-says-north-korea-no-longer-eyeing-reunification-south-warns-war-any-time |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> continuing by saying it is "unsuitable" to discuss the issue of reunification "with this strange clan [South Korea], who is no more than a colonial stooge of the U.S. despite the rhetorical word [we used to use] — 'the fellow countrymen." Kim also instructed the WPK on reforming organizations related to inter-Korean relations, including the WPK's [[United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea|United Front Department]].<ref name=":4" />
[[File:Monument-to-National-Reunification-2014.jpg|thumb|[[Arch of Reunification]], demolished in early 2024 in North Korea]]
Kim further confirmed a shift in policy in January 2024, when he gave a speech to the [[Supreme People's Assembly]] (SPA) calling for the [[Constitution of North Korea|constitution]] to be amended to remove references to cooperation and reunification, as well as specify DPRK's territorial borders and add an article specifying the ROK as the most hostile country.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last1=Zwirko |first1=Colin |last2=Kim |first2=Jeongmin |date=16 January 2024 |title=North Korea to redefine border, purge unification language from constitution |url=https://www.nknews.org/2024/01/north-korea-to-destroy-inter-korean-links-redefine-borders-in-constitution/#:~:text=North%20Korea%20will%20change%20its,state%20media%20reported%20on%20Tuesday. |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=[[NK News]]}}</ref> He also rejected the maritime [[Northern Limit Line]], saying that "If the Republic of Korea invades our ground territory, territorial air space, or territorial waters by even 0.001 mm, it will be considered a provocation of war". He called for the removal of physical symbols such as the [[Arch of Reunification]], which he called an "eyesore". The SPA also voted on the abolition of three inter-Korean cooperation organizations; the [[Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland]], the Korean People's Cooperation Administration, and the Kumgangsan International Tourism Administration.<ref name=":5" />

On March 1, 2024, the government of President [[Yoon Suk Yeol]] plans to develop a new vision of unification with North Korea to include the principle of liberal democracy. South Korea plans to update its vision of unification for the first time in 30 years. This is the first revision of the [[Unification Formula of the national community]], South Korea's unification policy unveiled in August 1994 under the administration of late President [[Kim Young-sam]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wonju |first=Yi |date=2024-03-01 |title=S. Korea to update unification vision for 1st time in 30 years |url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240301002500315 |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=[[Yonhap News Agency]] |language=en}}</ref>