North Korea says its revised constitution defines South Korea as ’hostile State’ for first time

North Korea rewrites constitution designating South Korea as main enemy, removing peaceful unification goal, and defining territorial sovereignty.

North Korea confirmed Thursday (October 17, 2024) that its recently revised constitution defines South Korea as “a hostile State" for the first time, two days after it blew up the front-line road and rail links that once connected the country with the South.

North Korea’s Parliament met for two days last week to rewrite the constitution but State media didn’t immediately provide details about the session. Leader Kim Jong Un had called for constitutional change at the Parliamentary meeting to designate South Korea as the country’s main enemy, remove the goal of a peaceful Korean unification and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere.

The official Korean Central News Agency said that its recent demolition of parts of the northern sections of the inter-Korean road and rail links was “an inevitable and legitimate measure taken in keeping with the requirement of the DPRK constitution which clearly defines the ROK as a hostile State.”

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Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is the North's official name, while ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the South's formal name.

KCNA gave no further details of the new constitution. An earlier KCNA report on the Oct. 7-8 meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly only said the constitution was revised to amend the legal ages of North Koreans for working and participating in elections but didn't say whether the meeting dealt with Mr. Kim's demand as well.

“There may still be an internal propaganda review underway about the appropriate way to disclose the constitutional revisions, but this confirmation was expected,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.