North Korea has revised its constitution to formally declare itself a nuclear-armed state and remove all references to reunification with South Korea, in a significant hardening of Pyongyang's official posture toward its southern neighbour and the international community. A document seen by news agencies at a press conference held by South Korea's Unification Ministry confirms the changes, which were introduced in March.
The revised constitution strikes out a clause that had committed North Korea to realising "the unification of the motherland," a long-standing feature of its foundational law. In its place, a new territorial clause names the Republic of Korea — South Korea's official designation — as the country bordering North Korea to the south, while asserting that Pyongyang "absolutely does not allow any infringement on its territory." The document does not specify where the precise border with South Korea lies and makes no reference to maritime boundaries. The two Koreas have technically remained at war since the 1950–53 Korean War ended only with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty, and their shared border — a heavily fortified demilitarised zone of nearly 250 kilometres — remains one of the most militarised frontiers in the world.
The constitutional amendments also codify Kim Jong Un's personal authority to order the use of nuclear weapons, anchoring that power in law for the first time. Reinforcing this, North Korea's permanent representative to the United Nations, Kim Song, stated on Wednesday that Pyongyang is "not bound by the NPT in any case," referring to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. His remarks came as the treaty's eleventh Review Conference was under way at UN headquarters. North Korea had announced its withdrawal from the NPT in 1993 and formally left in 2003. South Korea's Unification Ministry noted a shift in how Pyongyang now frames its nuclear programme — no longer as a political stance alone, but as a constitutional obligation.
The announcements come amid a broader intensification of North Korean military activity. Pyongyang conducted four missile tests in April, the highest monthly total in over two years. Kim Jong Un has repeatedly described South Korea as the country's "most hostile" adversary, a position he reiterated in a policy address in March. South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung has called for unconditional dialogue, saying the two nations are destined "to make the flowers of peace bloom," but the North has not responded to his overtures.
Why this matters: The constitutional changes mark a formal, legal break from decades of official — if largely rhetorical — commitment to Korean reunification, signalling that Pyongyang now views the peninsula's division as permanent. Combined with the entrenchment of nuclear command authority in law and North Korea's deepening military and economic ties with Russia, including thousands of troops sent to fight in Ukraine and a near-completed road bridge across the Tumen River, the developments suggest a country systematically insulating itself from external pressure while locking in a more confrontational regional posture.