North Korea dissolves organizations in order to “unify” with South Korea | outside

Relations between North Korea and South Korea deteriorated sharply last year. For example, Pyongyang's launch of a spy satellite prompted Seoul to partially suspend a 2018 military agreement aimed at defusing tensions. A few weeks ago, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described his neighbor as a “main enemy” and continuing to seek reconciliation “is a mistake that North Korea should no longer make.”

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea, the official names of North and South Korea respectively, were founded 75 years ago. However, both still officially consider each other an illegal entity. In their constitutions, both North and South Korea claim sovereignty over the entire peninsula.

Diplomatic relations were previously handled by the so-called Ministry of Unification in Seoul and the Pyongyang Committee for Peaceful Reunification. The latter is one of the agencies that North Korea has now abolished. According to the North's Korean Central News Agency, the People's Assembly resolution states that “the reunification of Korea with the Republic of Korea can never be achieved.”