Indo-Pacific — 2026-05-22

North Korea Constitutional Revisions Codify Two-State Framework and Signal Hostile Coexistence With South Korea

BLUFBy embedding hostile coexistence in supreme party law and excluding the NLL from its territorial claim, Pyongyang has legally locked in confrontation and engineered a maritime flashpoint that binds future leaders and constrains Seoul-Washington engagement options.

The full text of North Korea's revised constitution, adopted at the 15th SPA's first session in late March, surfaced in South Korea on May 6 1two hostile states' doctrine" data-source="Korea Herald" data-url="https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10732176" data-rt="secondary" data-mbfc="mixed" data-otype="newspaper">2. The revision removes all unification language, introduces a territorial clause defining DPRK territory as bordered by the ROK to the south with no reference to the Northern Limit Line, and codifies Kim Jong Un's command authority over nuclear forces in new Article 89 123. Newly added Articles 60 and 61 direct the state to develop the defense industry and prepare for an "all-people war of resistance" 1. At the Ninth Workers' Party Congress in February, North Korea separately revised the WPK charter to enshrine the "two hostile states" framework; Kim declared Pyongyang would "permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots," Daily NK reported 4.

Analysis
The constitutional revision legally forecloses the reunification framework that anchored decades of engagement policy. Converging analysis across outlets drawing independently from the constitutional text finds the omission of "primary foe" language signals strategic flexibility rather than moderation; hostile formulations Kim withholds from constitutional text are carried in speeches and Party directives instead. The WPK charter, which supersedes the constitution, enshrines "two hostile states" as supreme party law, binding successors to this posture. Vague territorial language and softer constitutional tone may instead reflect a tactical pause preserving legal space for future engagement under different political conditions in Seoul or Washington. The NLL's deliberate exclusion sustains a flashpoint already being probed by Kim's Yellow Sea destroyer tests.

5 sources

Paving the Way for Hostile Coexistence? What North Korea Constitutional Revisions Mean for Inter-Korean Ties - 38 North
North Korea's revised constitution reflects 'two hostile states' doctrine - Korea Herald
Is North Korea's constitutional shift a move towards 'peaceful coexistence' with South? - South China Morning Post
Kim Jong Un's 'two hostile states' declaration: legal implications for the Korean Peninsula - Daily NK
Second-day Sitting of First Session of 15th SPA of DPRK Held - KCNA (Korean Central News Agency) via GlobalSecurity.org mirror