North Korea Has Removed Mention Of Unification With The South From Its Constitution
- 6.05.2026, 19:44
Experts see these changes as positive.
North Korea has made changes to its constitution: references to unification with South Korea have disappeared from the document. In addition, Pyongyang for the first time outlined the territorial boundaries of the country, though without mentioning where exactly the border with South Korea is. Experts consider these changes positive.
What has changed
The new version of the constitution has 168 articles divided into seven chapters, writes BBC with reference to NK News.
Article 2 for the first time in history designates the territorial boundaries of the state: the DPRK borders with the People's Republic of China and Russia in the north and with the Republic of Korea in the south. Pyongyang, the document says, "will under no circumstances tolerate encroachments on its territory."
The constitution does not specify where exactly the border with South Korea is: while the land border is not disputed by either Pyongyang or Seoul, the maritime border raises questions. De facto it runs along the northern boundary line in the Yellow Sea, but as early as 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he would not recognize such a division.
Another important change is the dropping of the reference to unification with South Korea. In the previous version of the constitution, Article 9 stated that the DPRK seeks to "reunify the country based on the principles of independence, peaceful unification and great national unity."
This article has now been removed from the constitution, and references to the achievements and goals of former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have also disappeared. It was with them that the reunification of the people in one state was associated.
In the previous version of the constitution, the chairman of the DPRK State Council (a position held by Kim Jong-un) was called the supreme leader representing the state, Reuters notes, but now the document designates him as the head of state. The constitution for the first time formally places the head of state above the Supreme People's Council, Yonhap writes.
The constitution describes the DPRK as a "responsible nuclear power" (this was also the case in the previous version) and names the chairman of the State Council as commander of the nuclear forces (this is an innovation).
Another change in the constitution is a reference to North Korean soldiers involved in "military operations abroad."
As NK News notes, this underscores how important North Korea's military alliance with Russia is: the only overseas "military operation" in which North Koreans have participated is Russia's war with Ukraine.
Backstory
The changes to the North Korean constitution were revealed at a press conference by South Korea's Ministry of Unification. As NK News notes, the document was shown to journalists by Professor Lee Jong Chul of Seoul National University. It is unknown how the text of the constitution came into his possession; NK News could not independently confirm its authenticity.
The constitution was most likely amended in March at a meeting of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly.
The DPRK adopted its first constitution in September 1948; it has been amended five times. Pyongyang adopted a new - socialist - constitution in 1972. It has been amended 12 times. The new version, adopted in March, does not contain the word "socialist" in the title, Yonhap noted.
The DPRK and the Republic of Korea are formally at war: the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a full-fledged peace treaty.
Expert Assessments
Professor Lee Jong Chul said at a press conference that the new constitution shows Pyongyang's desire to project an image of a "normal" state. The DPRK specialist praised the changes positively, saying they could form the basis of "peaceful coexistence" with Seoul.
"By removing references to unification, North Korea appears to have cemented that it no longer claims South Korean territory," Yang Moo Chin, a professor emeritus at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, commented to AFP.
In response, Pyongyang "expects South Korea not to encroach on North Korean territory," he said.
Ahn Jong-sik, a visiting professor at Dongguk University, suggested in a commentary for NK News that Pyongyang deliberately did not mark the maritime border with South Korea to avoid a possible conflict. "If the border was fixed in the constitution, the state would be obliged to act and fight to protect that territory," he explained.