Kim Jong-un departed from Beijing to return to his country on the evening of the 4th. (Video screenshot)
[People News] While CCP leader Xi Jinping is modifying the constitution to pursue his 're-election dream' and emphasises that he will not abandon the use of force to unify Taiwan, North Korea, which has been a 'little brother' to the CCP for decades, has suddenly made significant amendments to its constitution. This includes recognising South Korea's national status, which has left the CCP shocked and unable to respond promptly.
On May 6, 2026, the South Korean Ministry of Unification released the full text of North Korea's latest constitution. The amendments indicate that Pyongyang has legally abandoned the national policy of 'reunification of the motherland', marking the first time it has included territorial clauses and downplayed the extreme violent revolutionary rhetoric it has maintained for decades. Observers believe that Kim Jong-un is accelerating the effort to shape a 'normal country' image, moving further away from Beijing's theory of 'inevitable unification'.
According to the full text of North Korea's constitution disclosed by the South Korean Ministry of Unification on May 6, the new constitution, which was passed by the 15th Supreme People's Assembly of Korea on March 23, 2026, includes the following key amendments:
1. The complete removal of unification terminology. The new constitution eliminates phrases such as 'reunification of the motherland', 'northern half', 'national unity', and 'complete victory of socialism' from both the preamble and the main text. This effectively removes the legal foundation for 'peninsula unification' that has persisted for over 70 years.
2. The incorporation of territorial clauses for the first time. The new constitution explicitly defines the territorial scope as 'bordering China and Russia to the north, and the Republic of Korea to the south'. Legally, South Korea is now classified as a foreign country, rather than a co-ethnic regime awaiting unification.
3. Kim Jong-un's legal status has been elevated. The new constitution will upgrade Kim Jong-un from 'Supreme Leader' to the legally recognised 'Head of State', and for the first time, it explicitly grants him command over nuclear weapons, allowing the 'National Nuclear Command Authority' to be activated.
4. The socialist connotations have been removed. The constitution's title has been changed from 'Socialist Constitution' to simply 'Constitution'. The references to the 'revolutionary achievements' of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il have been significantly reduced, and the title 'Kim Il-sung-Kim Jong-il Constitution' has been eliminated.
Additionally, the new constitution incorporates a new governance slogan.
The 'People First' principle proposed by Kim Jong-un is now officially included in the constitution, replacing the previous focus on 'Military First Politics' and 'Juche Ideology'. Furthermore, radical terms such as 'imperialist aggressors', 'crushing hostile forces' conspiracies', and 'liberating the oppressed and exploited people' have been toned down, reducing the extreme violent revolutionary imagery.
The South Korean Ministry of Unification has assessed that this constitutional amendment brings North Korea's legal framework closer to that of a 'normal state', establishing a sovereign independent status under international law, and moving away from a war system that is 'always prepared for military unification'.
Professor Lee Jung-chul from Seoul National University believes that the new constitution could serve as a structural foundation for peaceful coexistence between North and South Korea.
Kim Jong-un has significant disagreements with the Beijing approach.
In recent years, Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that 'national reunification is a historical inevitability', viewing the Taiwan issue as a core interest and treating it as a 'red line' in international diplomacy. By abandoning the idea of reunification at this moment, Kim Jong-un is effectively relinquishing the long-standing shared ideological narrative of 'anti-American promotion of unification' between China and North Korea.
Historically, North Korea has often communicated its major decisions with Beijing, which has also leveraged the 'Korean Peninsula issue' to engage in strategic manoeuvring with the United States. Pyongyang's recent unilateral constitutional demarcation is viewed as a move to lessen its strategic dependence on Beijing, effectively rejecting the role of being a subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party.
Sheng Xue, a pro-democracy activist living in Canada, asserts that 'Kim Jong-un's decision to abandon unification aligns with contemporary trends, leaving Xi Jinping far behind.'
Kim Jong-un has opted to position North Korea as a 'normal country' rather than a 'revolutionary outpost.' As Pyongyang accelerates this transformation, Beijing's insistence on Taiwan's unification will likely seem increasingly isolated. The Chinese Communist Party has not yet issued any public comments regarding North Korea's constitutional changes. △
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