First Unification White Paper Under Lee Administration: 'Denuclearization and Human Rights' Greatly Reduced, Focus on 'Peaceful Exchange First'

Kim Jong Un Orders "Strengthening of Frontline Military Forces" Along Armistice Line, Now Called the "Southern Border"
Hostile Two-State Stance Reaffirmed

In the first "Unification White Paper" published since the inauguration of the Lee Jaemyung administration, the emphasis on denuclearization and North Korean human rights issues has been significantly reduced. Instead, the current government's unification policy highlights peace, exchange, and cooperation, and includes optimistic discourse such as the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue. North Korea, meanwhile, refers to the armistice line as the "southern border" and has moved to strengthen the armed capabilities of its frontline units along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

On the 18th, the Ministry of Unification published the approximately 300-page "2025 Unification White Paper." The white paper consists of seven chapters: 1) Policy for Peaceful Coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, 2) Strengthening the Foundation for Policy Implementation, 3) Peace, Exchange, and Cooperation, 4) Inter-Korean Dialogue, 5) Support for Settlement of North-bound Defectors, 6) Education for Peace, Unification, and Democratic Citizenship. Compared to the previous administration's version, the main table of contents omits "human rights" entirely and is largely filled with conciliatory policies toward North Korea. There is no explicit goal of "denuclearization." However, a phased approach is presented under "comprehensive approach of exchange, normalization of relations, and denuclearization."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened a meeting of commanders from all army divisions and brigades on the 17th, expressing plans to reorganize the military structure to strengthen the frontline units guarding the southern border and transform the border into an "impregnable fortress," according to KCTV on the 18th. [KCTV footage] 2026.5.18 Yonhap News Agency

North Korea continues to intensify its hostile stance toward South Korea. On this day, the Korean Central News Agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened military commanders the previous day, instructing them to "strengthen the frontline units guarding the southern border (Military Demarcation Line)" and to "transform the border into an impregnable fortress." This is the first time Kim has directly referred to the "southern border" since North Korea established a new "territorial clause" through constitutional amendment.

Im Eulchul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, analyzed, "It is an attempt to define the Republic of Korea as the 'primary archenemy' and a 'separate belligerent state,' and to clearly imprint both domestically and internationally the justification that inter-Korean relations are thoroughly antagonistic border relations."

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