South Korea seeks 'peaceful 2 states' approach in relations with North

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during the Global Korea Forum at a hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of Unification

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday that South Korea will seek to transform North Korea's "hostile two-state" framework into a “peaceful two-state” arrangement, describing it as a transitional stage on the path toward eventual unification.

Speaking at the Global Korea Forum hosted by the ministry in Seoul, Chung said South Korea will continue pursuing rapprochement with Pyongyang despite the North’s frosty response, calling dialogue the most effective means of reducing hostilities.

"Even if North Korea continues to uphold the two-state theory, there is no justification for maintaining hostility," he said in an opening speech. "The main focus should first be on ending this hostility. The alternative is to transform the hostile two-state framework into a de facto peaceful two-state framework. This is the core of our policy toward North Korea."

While Chung's remarks appear aimed at reviving talks with Pyongyang as the Lee Jae Myung administration seeks to restore engagement, some worry that this approach could spark controversy for aligning too closely with Kim Jong-un's two-state narrative.

In December 2023, at one of the lowest points in inter-Korean relations in years, Kim described ties with Seoul as those between "two states hostile to each other," virtually scrapping the North's previous approach of regarding the South as an entity with which to seek unification. Calling the South its "principal enemy," North Korea has since largely ignored Seoul under this framework.

Some critics caution that embracing North Korea’s two-state system could break with the 1991 inter-Korean Basic Agreement, which defined relations as a "special relationship" — a provisional framework intended to advance unification rather than establish full state-to-state ties.

Chung, seemingly mindful of such concerns, clarified in his speech that the peaceful two-state system is intended as a transitional stage toward eventual unification.

He further said that the concept of viewing the two Koreas as separate states dates back more than three decades, to their simultaneous admission to the United Nations in 1991.

"Through their simultaneous U.N. membership, the two Koreas were recognized as sovereign states under international law. The Basic Agreement further committed both sides to acknowledging and respecting each other's systems and refraining from interfering in one another’s internal affairs."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks through binoculars from a vehicle, with a military official in the background, in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Sept. 13. Yonhap

The minister also highlighted the opportunity presented by U.S. President Donald Trump's interest in meeting with Kim.

Seoul has been hoping that the U.S. leader, who built a personal rapport with Kim through a series of summits during his first term, could help restart dialogue with the reclusive regime.

During a summit with Lee in Washington last month, Trump expressed his hope to meet Kim within this year.

"The two leaders reached a consensus on improving relations with North Korea," Chung said, referring to the Lee-Trump summit. "We must seize this opportunity. A North Korea-U.S. summit should serve as a driving force to end hostility on the Korean Peninsula and usher in an era of peaceful coexistence."

Meanwhile, Chung voiced strong criticism of the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, blaming its hard-line stance for driving inter-Korean relations to their lowest point in years.

"The damage to inter-Korean relations caused over the past three years runs too wide and too deep," he said.

The minister added that the Yoon administration, which labeled North Korea the country’s "main enemy," provoked the regime through preemptive strike threats and by emphasizing national unity against Pyongyang's state ideology.

His remarks come as the Lee administration has reversed major North Korea policies implemented under Yoon. Just days into his presidency in June, the president ordered the suspension of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at the North and dismantled them in August.