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Unification Ministry dismisses claim that it proposed legal revision to recognize North as separate nation

Published: 22 Dec. 2025, 14:34

A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post next to the North Korean flag, as seen from Paju, Gyeonggi, on June 26, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]

The Unification Ministry on Monday dismissed a news report that it had proposed a constitutional revision to President Lee Jae Myung to recognize North Korea as a separate nation as part of efforts to resume engagement with Pyongyang.

The clarification came after a local newspaper claimed that the ministry had proposed amending the Constitution to recognize North Korea as a separate, independent nation during a closed-door policy briefing to Lee last Friday.

The Constitution currently defines the entire Korean Peninsula as the sovereign territory of South Korea, effectively not recognizing North Korea as an equal nation.

Unification Ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho dismissed the report as “groundless and false” during a press briefing on Monday.

“The ministry neither proposed a constitutional revision during the policy briefing nor has it ever reviewed such a move,” Yoon said, expressing "regret" over what he called a “distorted report.”

Yonhap