"North Korea Has Not Been Recognized as a Legal State... It Is Only a Political Meaning"

The Ministry of Unification (MOU) drew a line, saying that the inter-Korean 'peaceful two-state theory' does not mean North Korea is being recognized as a state under South Korea's Constitution. On the 19th, it also said again that the peaceful two-state theory being considered by the ministry has not yet been agreed upon across ministries, in what would be the first such initiative by a government ministry.
A constitutional controversy erupted after the Lee Jae-myung administration's first Unification White Paper, released the previous day, included the peaceful two-state theory. The MOU, however, said it carries only political, not legal, meaning. A ministry official explained that the peaceful two-state theory "does not legally recognize North Korea as a state" and that it is "not the position of our government based on inter-ministerial agreement, but one of the ministry's ideas." In his opening remarks at the 2025 International Korean Peninsula Forum (GKF: Global Korea Forum) in September last year, Minister Jeong had already presented the vision and concept of a 'peaceful two-state relationship oriented toward unification.'
The conservative opposition, however, attacked Minister Jeong, calling the ministry's concept similar to North Korea's two-state theory and saying it was an unconstitutional idea.
The People Power Party (PPP) condemned the inclusion of the 'two-state theory' in the Lee Jae-myung administration's first Unification White Paper, calling it a "unconstitutional declaration of division." North Korea, meanwhile, formally codified its own version of the 'two-state theory' in a constitutional revision in March, defining inter-Korean relations as relations between separate states.
PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook that a Unification White Paper that denies unification is a clear violation of the Constitution, adding that "Kim Jong Un's orders have been placed above the Constitution of the Republic of Korea." He said that North Korean human rights had effectively disappeared from the white paper, and that North Korean defectors had been changed to "North Korean defectors" as Kim Jong Un wanted. He also pointed out that the status of UN resolutions on North Korean human rights and the UNSC's sanctions against North Korea had been removed. Lee Jong-bae, a four-term senior lawmaker, said on Facebook that President Lee should immediately dismiss Minister Jeong for violating the Constitution and revise the Unification White Paper.
rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter