Guest Columnist, Class of '88, Korea Military AcademyKim Jong Un declared in a speech at the Supreme People's Assembly in September 2025 that inter-Korean relations are "two hostile countries that can never be one" and vowed to solidify this in national law. As if in response, Unification Minister Jeong Dong-yong argued at a parliamentary audit that transforming the "two hostile countries theory" into a "peaceful two countries theory" is the core of North Korea policy and constitutional, spewing sophistry that "we cannot achieve unification precisely because we cannot go to two countries now," as if speaking for North Korea. 

Though belated, I propose and urge a sober recognition of reality and a strategic response system to the concept of 'two countries,' having heard the sentiments of the people and the military. 

1. Uphold the Principle of 'One Korea'

   North Korea's 'theory of two hostile countries' directly contradicts the principle of 'One Republic of Korea' stipulated in our constitution. The government must not acknowledge Kim Jong Un's remarks due to pressure from its peace policy but must steadfastly uphold the principle of 'One Korea' in accordance with Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution. Those who, like the Unification Minister, intend to recognize 'two countries' according to North Korea's wishes should be considered for punishment based on Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution and the National Security Act, and Minister Jeong, whose unconstitutional remarks have incited public outrage, should resign. 

In the face of this significant structural severance of inter-Korean relations and a unilateral declaration tantamount to a declaration of war, if the current government remains clinging to the outdated framework of 'reconciliation and cooperation' for superficial peace, it is an act of treason that aids North Korea's strategic victory due to naive dereliction of duty and strategic miscalculation in failing to recognize North Korea's changes. 

2. The 'Theory of Two Hostile Countries' is a New Form of Strategy for South Korea's Subversion

   The statement of 'two hostile countries' is not a mere provocation but a strategic shift to solidify North Korea's regime survival and its status as a nuclear power. Kim Jong Un's strategy is multifaceted: ① abandoning the 'legacy of national unification' of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to establish legitimacy based on his self-centered nuclear military power; ② designating South Korea as a perpetual hostile and belligerent state to block all dialogue and exchange; ③ preventing internal unrest such as the inflow of Korean Wave; and ④ securing support from China and Russia by strengthening the North Korea-China-Russia alliance and creating an atmosphere of war within the context of a new Cold War. This is a legal and institutional severance of the Korean Peninsula and a declaration of nuclear confrontation. It is also psychological warfare aimed at collapsing our security system by fomenting internal division in South Korea, and a new strategy for subverting the South. 

With the declaration of 'two hostile countries,' the Korean Peninsula has fundamentally shifted from a confrontation of dual ambiguity to a clear war footing. Just as a powerful tsunami follows a strong earthquake, if the strategic changes of North Korea are met with the complicity of some politicians and Juche elements, combined with North Korea's confidence in its nuclear arsenal and the North Korea-China-Russia alliance, they will seek to justify even physical provocations. Inept responses that fail to understand North Korea's strategic intentions will lead to repeated failures in all future military and diplomatic confrontations. 

North Korea's 'theory of two hostile countries' is a declaration of a transition to a war-oriented system centered on its nuclear arsenal, abandoning the past united front tactics based on ethnic homogeneity. Kim Jong Un has abandoned the 'Koryo Federation' unification line, dissolved inter-Korean organizations like the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, and redefined South Korea not as a negotiating partner but as an enemy to be eliminated or subjugated. This is an de facto declaration of war based on a sense of nuclear superiority. It is a strategy aimed at solidifying the Korean Peninsula into a long-term confrontation. 

3. A 3-Step System to Turn North Korean Provocations into an 'Opportunity for Free Unification'

   If the government remains stuck in sentimental pacifism or acts as a subordinate of the enemy, it will be difficult to suppress the highly evolved threats from the enemy. There is no reason to fear if we grasp the true intentions behind North Korea's declaration. Just as North Korea employs psychological warfare, we can achieve peaceful unification as stipulated in the constitution by shifting our focus to strategically widening cracks within the North Korean leadership. 

Step 1: Separate Laws and Systems: Establish laws and systems that clearly distinguish between the 'North Korean regime' and 'North Korean compatriots,' convert inter-Korean cooperation funds into 'Funds for Spreading Freedom and Responding to Regime Change,' and redesign humanitarian and civilian exchanges with North Korea to focus on human rights and information dissemination. The means must be fundamentally changed to achieve the unification goal specified in the constitution. 

Step 2: Build Information and Freedom Networks: Systematically introduce information into North Korea using low-earth orbit satellites, small communication devices, radios, and internet distribution networks. Cultivate defectors and civil society as 'unification vanguard units' to nurture seeds of internal resistance and promote changes in the perceptions of North Korean residents. 

Step 3: Parallel International Legal and Diplomatic Pressure: Increase legal and diplomatic pressure by linking North Korea's human rights and nuclear issues to the international stage, and accelerate internal cracks by combining information dissemination with international sanctions and prosecutions, thereby increasing the cost of maintaining the North Korean regime. 

Without administrative and organizational reform, this strategy is merely empty talk. Therefore, the Ministry of Unification should be dissolved and reorganized into a hypothetical 'North Korea Strategic Management Bureau' to become a designer that controls North Korean risks and changes the North Korean regime, rather than a manager of inter-Korean exchanges. The 'North Korea Strategic Management Bureau' should be elevated to a national strategic hub directly under the Prime Minister's Office and the National Security Council, integrating legal, informational, and diplomatic functions. This is part of a strategy to realistically prepare for unification through systems and wisdom. 

Unification is a matter of systems and strategy, not emotional peace or ideology. We must move beyond sentimentally agreeing with Kim Jong Un's 'two hostile countries' declaration or clinging to the old 'reconciliation and cooperation' framework. We must use North Korea's provocations and its strategy for subverting the South as an opportunity to collapse the North Korean regime. We anticipate and urge the accumulated wisdom and united strength of retired strategists. 

By Park Pil-gyu, Guest Columnist