Is unification of the North and South no longer possible? North Korea's Kim Jong Il says North and South Korea are 'completely deadlocked in relations with belligerents'

On the 30th of last month, North Korean General Secretary Kim Jung Eun referred to relations with South Korea at the general meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, saying, ``North-South relations should no longer be regarded as kinship relations but as enemies.
"There has been a complete stalemate in relations between countries and belligerent countries during the war," he said. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported on the 31st. The Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo said, ``The fundamentals of the route to the South (South Korea)
We have officially declared a change in direction." On the other hand, South Korean President Yoon Seo-gyeol said, ``South Korea will build a true and lasting peace through strength, rather than a humiliating peace that relies on the goodwill of others.''
"I am doing it," he emphasized. This year, there are concerns that the division of the Korean peninsula will become deeper. A general meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea was held in North Korea from the 26th to the 30th of last month. North Korea since 2019
At the end of the year, a general meeting is held with Kim Jong Il in attendance to summarize the past year and set out policies for the new year. At the General Assembly, Kim Jong Il referred to inter-Korean relations and said, ``Currently, there are two countries that are most hostile to the Korean peninsula.''
No one can deny that the two countries coexist,'' and criticized South Korea, saying that even with the change of government, ``the keynote of ``unification under a liberal democratic system'' has not changed.'' Furthermore, Kim Jong Il is concerned with relations with South Korea.
``It is unbecoming of our nation's status and status to discuss the issue of unification with these strange people who are nothing more than stooges of the United States' colonies for the sake of rhetorical expressions of kinship.''
"It was not a relationship of inheritance, but a relationship between two hostile nations, a relationship between two belligerents at war," he said. Since last summer, North Korea has been using the term "Republic of Korea" when criticizing South Korea.
has increased. The first time that North Korea officially used the name ``Republic of Korea'' was in July last year, when Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, vice-minister of the party, issued a series of statements. Conventional use
Attention has been focused on the intention of changing the wording from "South Korea" and "annoyance (of the United States)". At the time, Yo Jong issued a statement criticizing the U.S. Air Force's reconnaissance activities, saying that the ``Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff''
He used the expression ``the military of the Republic of Korea.'' In the announced statement, the part referring to the Republic of Korea was placed in parentheses for emphasis.
The following month, Kim Jong Il visited the Navy Headquarters ahead of the Navy Foundation Day.
``Not too long ago, the leaders of the thugs from the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea got together and announced that they would regularly hold joint military exercises among the three parties, and have begun implementing them,'' he said in a speech. .
This was the first time that Kim Jong Il publicly referred to South Korea as the ``Republic of Korea.'' Following Yo Jong, Kim Jong Il also used the expression ``Republic of Korea,'' which drew attention from both South Korean and foreign media at the time.
noticed. At the time, the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo analyzed that, ``This can be interpreted as a recognition of the relationship as ``country-to-country,'' with no regard for the special characteristics of inter-Korean relations, and even the use of nuclear weapons.'' In addition, the aforementioned gold
When North Korea's media reported the contents of the general secretary's remarks, South Korean media News 1 noted that the words <<Republic of Korea>> were written in parentheses.
"It's a way to express words that we don't use in our country," he said, intentionally referring to South Korea by a country name they don't use, and explaining that it "expresses hostile feelings." The North-South Basic Agreement that came into effect in 1992 is
It describes inter-Korean relations as ``a special relationship that is not between two countries but a process of unification,'' but it considers South Korea to be a ``separate nation'' rather than ``the same people who are the subject of unification,'' and there is no clear definition of inter-Korean relations. draw a line
As a result, there was a widespread view that there was an intention to change the unification policy from special relations to inter-state relations. Regarding Kim Jong-Il's statement at the General Assembly that "we are not talking about kinship relations, we are talking about hostile national relations."
The South Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo explained, ``It clarifies the hostile lines of ``strong against strong'' against the South, against the United States, and against the United States.'' Kim Jong Il's grandfather, President Kim Il Sung, tried to make the political systems of the North and South coexist.
He proposed the ``Democratic Federal Republic of Goryeo Plan'' in an attempt to unify in the form of a federation, but the Chosun Ilbo editorial on the 1st of this month said that Kim Jong Il's recent remarks were ``the last lesson of the previous leader's unification 'Koryo Federal System'. destruction of
It was pointed out that it also suggested that He urged the South Korean government, ``Policy towards North Korea and unification policy must begin with a thorough understanding of the actual situation in North Korea.''
Meanwhile, in his New Year's speech, South Korean President Yoon announced that by June of this year, the United States would strengthen ``extended deterrence,'' which would protect South Korea with nuclear, conventional forces, and missile defense.
announced that it would be completed. ``We will fundamentally block North Korea's nuclear and missile threats,'' he emphasized. In South Korea, tensions with North Korea were eased under the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations.
It has adopted a policy called the ``sunshine policy.'' The Moon Jae-in administration has also taken a conciliatory approach. However, given the current increasingly tense inter-Korean relations, the South Korean media said, ``The 'Sunshine Policy' is
Some are starting to point out that it was a fantasy from the beginning.'' (Chosun Ilbo)