Before debating how Korea unifies, Seoul needs to decide what it wants

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung recently stated that South Korea would not pursue absorption unification with North Korea. The position is being interpreted as a prioritization of peaceful coexistence and stable relationship management over inter-Korean system competition or a one-sided absorption scenario. Reactions from the political world and academia have varied. Some see it as a realistic approach, while others worry it could weaken the constitutional commitment to unification.

But the debate is missing the more important question. Rejecting absorption unification is a position on one particular method. The natural next question follows from there: what kind of unification does South Korea actually want? And in a changed Korean Peninsula, what is the goal of unification policy? What is needed now is not a debate over whether absorption unification is good or bad. North Korea has already changed the way it talks about inter-Korean relations, yet South Korea has yet to even begin discussing what kind of unification it is aiming for.

I. Was absorption unification ever official South Korean policy?

This needs to be clarified first. The phrase “absorption unification” appears nowhere in the South Korean Constitution. Article 4 of the Constitution requires the state to establish and pursue a peaceful unification policy grounded in the principles of liberal democracy. In other words, the Constitution defines the goal of unification, not any specific method.

The concept of absorption unification has long appeared in Korean public discourse alongside the example of German reunification. But it was always one possible scenario, never an officially adopted national unification plan. Characterizing President Lee’s remarks as an abandonment of unification or a repudiation of the Constitution may therefore be an overreach. At the same time, declaring a rejection of absorption unification does not complete a unification policy in itself. If a specific method is ruled out, the government owes the public an explanation of what model and path it is instead pursuing.

II. North Korea is already asking a different question

North Korea recently amended its constitution to remove unification-related language and add a new territorial clause. It also revised the language used to describe inter-Korean relations, explicitly designating South Korea as a separate state. Analysts have noted that these changes reflect a shift in how North Korea conceptualizes its relationship with the South.

This does not necessarily mean North Korea has abandoned unification entirely. But one thing is clear: North Korea is revising its unification discourse and changing the language it uses to describe inter-Korean relations.

What is striking is that South Korea’s debate remains stuck at the level of whether or not to pursue absorption unification. Meanwhile, North Korea has already moved to a prior stage, actively constructing a new narrative about how to define the inter-Korean relationship itself. The question South Korea actually needs to be asking is not about the merits of absorption unification, but about how to understand and respond to a North Korea that has already changed. Before debating the method of unification, the goal of unification and the future shape of inter-Korean relations need to be reestablished.

III. Unification policy must be grounded in reality, not aspiration

Unification remains a constitutional obligation of the South Korean state. But unification policy cannot run on aspiration alone. When the other side changes, policy must be reviewed alongside it.

South Korean unification policy has historically developed around the values of peace, dialogue, and cooperation. Those values remain important. But recent shifts in North Korea’s policy toward the South, and changes in the international environment, suggest that existing approaches alone may no longer be sufficient.

This concern has been consistently raised among North Korean defector communities and researchers who have long studied the North Korea question. Defectors I encounter on the ground are picking up on changes in North Korea’s internal atmosphere and attitudes toward the South at a rapid pace. Policy discourse, however, remains anchored in an older unification framework.

Policy must be able to account for reality. The wider the gap between the reality people experience and the language of policy, the weaker public trust in that policy will become.

IV. It is time to debate the goal, not just the method

Ruling out absorption unification can be a starting point, not an ending point. What matters now comes after that declaration. What kind of inter-Korean relationship is South Korea pursuing? How far can peaceful coexistence realistically go? If unification is being prepared for over the long term, what conditions and processes does that require? And within a changing North Korea, what role should the Ministry of Unification and the government play?

The problem is that comprehensive government-level answers to these questions have not been offered. Unification policy is not simply a declaration. It must present a direction and a pathway that the public can understand and support.

If those answers are not forthcoming, the absorption unification debate risks remaining a political sparring match. But if the process of finding answers begins, this debate could instead become the occasion for advancing South Korea’s unification policy to the next level.

V. It is time to redefine what unification means

President Lee Jae-myung’s remarks on absorption unification are prompting something more than a debate over methods. They are prompting South Korea to ask again what kind of unification it is actually pursuing.

North Korea has been amending its constitution to revise the framework through which it describes inter-Korean relations. The international order is also changing rapidly. In this environment, repeating the old unification discourse may no longer be adequate to explain the present reality.

What matters more than ruling out absorption unification is what comes next. South Korea must be able to explain to the public the goals and principles it is pursuing for unification, and the realistic path to get there. That is the real unification debate South Korea needs to start having. There have been many debates over method. Now is the time to put forward, as policy, what kind of Korean Peninsula South Korea actually wants to build.

The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Daily NK.

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