Kim Geunsik: "Kim Yo-jong's 'Two Koreas' Has Been Discussed for 8 Years"

In consecutive statements released by Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director of the Workers' Party of Korea, she referred to our side as the "Republic of Korea" instead of "South Joseon," leading to analyses that North Korea is formalizing its "Two Koreas" strategy, viewing South Korea not as a special relationship but as a state-to-state relationship. Kim Geun-sik, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Kyungnam University and former Vision Strategy Director of the People Power Party, pointed out that he had predicted this change as early as eight years ago.

On the 12th, Kim, through his social media (SNS), stated, "It is somewhat embarrassing, but the 'Two Koreas' strategy is actually something I discussed early on as a change in North Korea's South Korea strategy during the Kim Jong-un era."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the two statements issued consecutively on the 10th and 11th, Deputy Director Kim unusually used the term "Republic of Korea" instead of "South Joseon." This can be interpreted as meaning that inter-Korean relations are viewed not as a special relationship but as a "state-to-state" relationship.

He said, "In August 2015, I named this the 'Two Koreas' strategy in a column for Maeil Business Newspaper, and during the Moon Jae-in administration, I continuously argued that no matter how much we proposed exchanges and cooperation from an ethnic perspective, it would not work due to Kim Jong-un's Two Koreas strategy. I also explained this in detail in my book 'Correcting Kim Geun-sik's North Korea Policy,' published last year."

Kim added, "Since the Kim Jong-un era, the concept of 'ethnicity' has already disappeared from North Korea's official media and has been replaced by the word 'state.' 'Our ethnic supremacy' has become 'our state supremacy,' 'Kim Il-sung's ethnicity' has become 'Kim Il-sung's Joseon,' nationalism has been replaced by 'Kim Jong-il patriotism,' and slogans like 'ethnic cooperation' or 'our ethnic group' have long disappeared."

He continued, "The fundamental policy implication of North Korea's shift to a state-centered South Korea strategy is that North Korea itself is no longer interested in the previous post-Cold War sunshine policy, that is, reconciliation and cooperation policies. Therefore, reconciliation and cooperation based on nationalism, trapped in the past cave of the post-Cold War era, have now become anachronistic."

He pointed out, "The Two Koreas strategy originating from Kim Yo-jong signals that North Korea itself is moving away from nostalgia for the sunshine policy, so the progressive camp must realize that they should no longer fall into subjective expectations regarding North Korea policy."

Previously, Kim also criticized former President Moon Jae-in, who had pointed out the "Cold War mindset" of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, saying, "It is not that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is trapped in a Cold War mindset, but that former President Moon Jae-in is a frog in a well trapped in the outdated 'post-Cold War cave.' It has long been the case that North Korea has abandoned post-Cold War ethnic cooperation, rejected inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, and shifted its strategy to state-centered inter-Korean relations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.