It has been confirmed that North Korea amended its constitution to define Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, as the "head of state" and to delete the clause on national reunification.
According to an experts' roundtable held on the 6th for reporters covering the Ministry of Unification, the new North Korean constitution's preamble, unlike the previous constitution's preface and text, omits all references to inter-Korean relations and the concept of unification, such as "northern half," "national reunification," and "complete victory of socialism." As it removed references to the past achievements of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the preamble's description of the historic task of unification also disappeared.
It appears that unification-related content was deleted to reflect Kim Jong-un's declaration at the end of 2023 that inter-Korean relations are those of "two hostile states." However, there was also no clause declaring South Korea a "hostile state."
North Korea stipulated in newly established Article 2 that "the territory includes land bordering the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south, as well as the territorial waters and airspace established on that basis." It did not specifically address the southern land and maritime boundary lines.
The powers and status of the chairman of the State Affairs Commission were significantly strengthened. In the order of state institutions, the chairman appears first and is defined as the "head of state." This is the first time in North Korea's constitution that the chairman of the State Affairs Commission is placed before the Supreme People's Assembly.
The "Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism" line was deleted from the constitutional preamble, and "people-first principle," Kim Jong-un's governing ideology, was specified. Also appearing for the first time was the chairman's exclusive authority to command nuclear forces, and a clause providing the basis for delegation was newly added.
The chairman's authority over the "appointment and dismissal of key officials" was expanded to include the "chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly" and the "premier of the Cabinet." Meanwhile, the Supreme People's Assembly's power to recall the chairman disappeared, abolishing even the nominal check.
Experts analyzed that, judging by the structure of the provisions and the level of expression, the new constitution aims to highlight a "normal state" image.
Lee Jung-chul, a professor at Seoul National University, said at the roundtable that "although a territory clause was newly established and expressions and provisions emphasizing statehood have emerged, the fact that the nature of hostile relations or a state of belligerency does not appear suggests this draft constitution could be seen as creating one piece of infrastructure for moving toward peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas."