North Korea’s embrace of the two-state theory a political death sentence for defectors
(Image: La Terase/Shutterstock.com)
When U.S. President Donald Trump said he “gets along well with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader instantly fired back, calling the U.S. “a gangster nation,” casting further ambiguity on the actual nature of their relationship.
North Korea has always denigrated South Korea as “America’s stooge” and “puppet regime.” The term “puppet” (괴뢰) refers to a marionette, and in the Chosun Maldaesajeon (North Korea’s official dictionary), it is defined as a traitor who, having submitted to foreign powers, such as imperialists, sells out the homeland and people. Such expressions reflect North Korea’s historical worldview that puts the blame for the division of the Korean Peninsula onto the U.S., and claims that South Korea has lost its autonomy, functioning merely as Washington’s subordinate.
This adversarial view was long held under the premise that North and South Koreans are one people. But recently North Korea has cast this foundational concept aside.
In December 2023, during the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, the North declared inter-Korean relations to be “those of two warring states, not a homogeneous people,” formally announcing its “hostile two-state theory.” At a plenary session, Kim declared, “We will no longer speak of unification. North and South are two hostile countries.”
This statement marked the official beginning of North Korea’s “erasure of South Korea” strategy. Inter-Korean organizations such as the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland and the Mt. Kumgang International Tourism Bureau were dismantled, and long-standing South Korea-related departments like the United Front Department began to be phased out. Maps of the Korean Peninsula shown in North Korean media no longer display South Korea, and the phrase ‘three thousand ri” (a poetic reference to the Korean Peninsula stretching from the northern tip of North Hamgyong Province to the southern tip of Jeju Island), once part of the North Korean national anthem, has been removed. Even Pyongyang subway station names that once symbolized unification have been changed.
This trajectory reached its institutional climax in January 2024 with a constitutional revision. A new “territorial clause” was added to the constitution, and Kim personally ordered the removal of words like “unification,” “reconciliation,” and “fellow countrymen.”
This effort to redefine South Korea as a hostile state marks a turning point aimed at institutionalizing the permanent division of the Korean Peninsula, both ideologically and systemically.
Experts have speculated on the motives behind the change. Some say it is a display of Kim’s intent to sever inter-Korean relations and raise tensions on the peninsula, an attempt to strengthen diplomatic ties with countries like Russia. It is a strategy aimed at eliminating variables that could affect relations with Russia, under the judgment that communication with a conservative South Korean administration, one responding with a hardline stance, is unlikely.
“Within the framework of the hostile two-state theory, which calls for living without interference from each other, North Korea has chosen a strategy of disregard and indifference,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies.
The RAND Corporation said it was an effort “to maintain regime stability by thoroughly isolating the population from the outside world, including South Korea, and by labeling all external information as ‘enemy propaganda’ and banning its consumption.”
Additionally, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Julie Turner described the move as “a desperate attempt to regain control over the domestic information environment,” further noting that “the Kim Jong-un regime is facing growing internal unrest and is using the two-state theory as an extreme strategy to maintain control.”
Kim may be attempting to not only sever all ties with the South but also re-engineer a “Kim Jong-un-like people” from the ground up. In his tightly controlled dictatorship, what Kim desires tends to become reality. The most serious danger lies in the possibility that the outside world might begin to accept this logic.
This has grave implications for defectors living in third countries such as China. If the international community begins treating North and South Korea as separate states, defectors could find themselves in a legal no-man’s-land, neither refugees nor returnees, stripped even of the right to enter South Korea.
These concerns have only deepened under the administration of President Lee Jae-myung.
Historically, progressive South Korean administrations have prioritized humanitarian aid over pressure when addressing North Korea’s human rights issues. “Providing humanitarian assistance to improve the lives of the North Korean public may be helpful,” he said, suggesting help be channeled through North Korean authorities.
Past Democratic Party governments often viewed human rights advocacy as a stumbling block to inter-Korean dialogue, and many defectors felt ignored or sidelined.
Of particular concern is the appointment of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who in his master’s thesis once referred to defectors as “traitors” and “deserters.” That such views exist at the top levels of government raises fears of a rollback in defector protections. Under former President Moon Jae-in, 55 defectors were forcibly repatriated, and the 2019 case of two fishermen being sent back remains controversial.
Im Jong-seok, who served as Moon’s presidential chief of staff, declared at the 6th anniversary of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration, “Let’s abandon the obsession with unification and accept two states,” openly supporting the two-state theory. Current National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok has also voiced agreement with the idea of a “temporary two-state arrangement,” seemingly endorsing North Korea’s position.
In light of Kim’s hostile two-state rhetoric and the current South Korean government stance, it’s difficult not to be uneasy about the fate of North Korean defectors.
“Apparently, regardless of political affiliation, interest in unification, exchange, and peace is declining across the board,” said a defector named Kim who is studying political science and diplomacy at Yonsei University and who recently attended a lecture where they discussed the 2024 Korean Unification Awareness Survey by the Seoul National University Institute for Peace Research Center. “I always thought progressives were more interested in unification and North Korea issues, but last year’s stats show that interest is dropping among progressives and conservatives.”
“This public sentiment may reflect the current government’s position,” Kim said. “Honestly, it’s starting to feel like South Korea might actually go along with North Korea’s two-state theory. President Lee has talked about pushing for constitutional reform and a four-year re-election system. If the constitution is amended and the territorial clause is changed, defectors like me who fled seeking freedom might no longer be considered South Korean citizens. We could be reclassified as refugees. Then the government would no longer have a legal obligation to protect us.”
Kim said he was very young when he left North Korea and doesn’t really remember his family in the North besides his parents, but his mother still longs to see her relatives.
“She’s spent the equivalent of five years’ salary trying to bring her brother here. Under the current government, she’s pretty much given up,” he said, “Since North Korea started talking about the two-state theory, she’s been increasingly worried about him. She often says now, ‘Will we still be okay?’”
Another North Korean defector, also named Kim, said she’s heard that the international community is unlikely to recognize North Korea’s two-state theory. “But if the Democratic Party (in the South) or certain political circles accept it and go so far as to revise the Constitution and remove the territorial clause, then defectors might no longer be considered South Korean citizens, or even be able to enter the country at all. That really worries me.”
“They risked their one and only life, escaping from the North, just to live like human beings. But if even South Korea won’t accept them, then where are they supposed to go?” she asked. “There are many North Korean defectors in China who want to come to South Korea, but if even that route gets blocked, then simply because they were born in North Korea, their human rights won’t be protected anywhere.” She said they would end up like “acorns in dog food,” a Korean expression referring to someone who is cast aside, rejected by the group, or left isolated with no place to belong.
What they are concerned about is that if Article 3 of the South Korean Constitution is amended in this way, it could become more difficult for North Korean defectors to acquire South Korean citizenship. Article 3 stipulates that “the territory of the Republic of Korea shall consist of the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands,” thereby defining North Korea as part of South Korean territory. Under this provision, defectors from the North are recognized not as foreigners but as “returning citizens,” and are granted the rights and duties of citizens immediately upon entry.
However, the North were to be excluded from the national territory, newly arriving defectors could be classified as foreigners or stateless persons, making entry and protection difficult.
This aligns directly with Kim Jong-un’s “two-state theory,” and not only threatens the legal status of defectors but also shakes the unification-oriented national identity that South Korea has maintained.
Defection from North Korea is not a simple matter of immigration. It is a desperate and tragic choice, a life-risking journey in search of a life worth living. If, in the face of that desperation, South Korea ultimately closes its doors, it would be effectively sealing off the last escape route to freedom for defectors. In that moment, the Republic of Korea becomes an accomplice, quietly bolting shut the iron doors on the prison that is North Korea, a world Kim Jong-un dreams of, where no one can get out.
Jia defected from North Korea in search of basic freedoms, including the right to travel and freely express herself. Her identity as a North Korean has given her a sense of responsibility to represent the voices of her family and hometown friends and is also the reason she has chosen to work as a journalist.
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