September 26, 2025
SEOUL – Unification Minister Chung Dong-young once again acknowledged that South and North Korea function as “two separate states in reality,” while stressing that this did not mean permanent division, as South Korea’s ultimate goal remains unification.
“Recognizing the two Koreas as separate states does not mean accepting permanent division. This is a pragmatic and realistic perspective, a flexible approach to managing inter-Korean relations,” Chung told reporters on Thursday during a briefing.
“In reality, we are two separate states, and what we are doing is acknowledging statehood within the special relationship that has emerged as we move — albeit temporarily — toward eventual unification.”
Chung also pointed out that, “Some keep insisting that recognizing North Korea’s statehood amounts to abandoning unification from a Cold War-era, black-and-white point of view.”
Chung’s remark came amid questions over whether his stated view reflects a policy gap with the presidential National Security Office, after national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said Tuesday in New York that “The South Korean government does not take a position of supporting or recognizing the two-state theory.”
However, Chung said during Wednesday’s seminar that “the two Koreas are two states under international law and in international politics,” noting that they joined the United Nations separately, and that the focus should therefore be on “ending hostility” between them.
Chung also sought to dispel concerns that acknowledging the reality of two states might signal an abandonment of unification. Chung emphasized that the Lee administration remains committed to the government’s official 1994 “National Community Unification Formula,” which calls for a gradual, three-step approach.
“That is precisely the three-stage process of gradual, step-by-step, and peaceful unification proposed in the National Community Unification Formula — reconciliation and cooperation, a Korean confederation, and final unification. Within that framework, we are now moving toward the second stage of two states,” Chung said.
Chung also said that halting live-fire drills near the inter-Korean border even before the restoration of inter-Korean military agreements was “the right course” to advance President Lee Jae Myung’s initiative to end hostilities on the Korean Peninsula.
Chung’s comment came after Lee unveiled his END initiative at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, a plan that seeks to end the era of hostility and confrontation through expanded inter-Korean exchanges, support for North Korea’s normalization of ties with the international community, and pursuit of denuclearization.
“The Unification Ministry’s position is that it is right to halt live-fire drills and maneuver exercises that had been suspended under the Sept. 19 agreement,” Chung told reporters. “We have been in consultations with the Defense Ministry to that end.”
The two Koreas agreed to cease various military exercises aimed at each other along the Military Demarcation Line under the Sept. 19 Inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement signed in 2018, which was later unilaterally abolished by North Korea in November 2023.
Pyongyang’s announcement followed Seoul’s partial suspension of the military agreement — specifically, the lifting of the no-fly zone — a move intended to resume reconnaissance near the border and strengthen readiness after North Korea launched its first military spy satellite.
Chung further explained that drills near the inter-Korean border should be suspended even before the restoration of the inter-Korean military agreement.
“Regardless of the procedural status of the Sept. 19 agreement, it is necessary to restore the peace that existed in the border area between 2018 and 2023, when live-fire and maneuver exercises were suspended under the accord.”
When asked about what the breakthrough is to overcome the current deadlock in inter-Korean relations, Chung said, “The breakthrough, at this point, is a North Korea-US summit. We strongly support such a summit.”
“We will spare no effort to create the right atmosphere and conditions for a North Korea-US summit to take place,” Chung said. “It is true that a North Korea-US summit is what would open the way for progress in inter-Korean relations.”