The future of Inter-Korean relations
The future of inter-korean reunification, has since looked increasingly slim. In 2024, North Korea removed its “Unification Strategy,” signaling a significant policy shift away from reconciliation deepening commitment to redefining its national identity, one rooted in the decades-long detachment from the South and reinforced by its state ideology of “Juche socialism.” [1] This ideological entrenchment not only resists democratization but also actively weaponizes historical memory, including Korea’s colonial past, to bolster the regime’s legitimacy and further distance itself from reunification discourse.[2] For many as well, reunifications throughout the years became increasingly more srestrictive from being both in the South and North to transitioning to just being in North Korea. Eventually, that transition came at a full stop its last in South and North reunions occuring in 2019. [3] For surviving families still hoping to reunite with loved ones, this act of erasure is not just political; it is deeply personal. For the statue, the rubble and erasure of the statue of reunification becomes a symbol of both the fragility of memory and the unresolved trauma of division.
From this, North Korea has destroyed its reunification centers, which had been established in the 1980s to reconnect Southern Koreans with their North Korean families[4]. This action also included the dismantling of the Reunification Statue in Pyongyang, a symbol and model of potential future cooperation between North and South Korea[5, 6 &7]. These moves not only reflect the growing political and ideological distance between the two states but also signal the regime’s current stance against reconciliation, further diminishing hopes for reunification and deepening the sense of separation for families still longing to be reunited.
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[1] Kim Kap-sik. “Why Did Kim Jong-Un Delete Unification? Issues and Implications of North Korea’s Position on ‘Hostile Relations Between Two States.’” Asian Perspective 48, no. 42 (2024): 671–95. https://doi.org/10.1353/anp.2024.a944266. P. 672
[2]Kim Kap-sik. “Why Did Kim Jong-Un Delete Unification?" p. 672-673
[3]Ministry of Unification (Südkorea). "Number of reunited South and North Korean family members divided by the Korean War from 1985 to 2024." Chart. January 20, 2025. Statista. Accessed August 14, 2025. https://www-statista-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/statistics/746334/south-korea-number-of-reunited-family-members-divided-by-the-korean-war/
[4]Radio Free Asia. “North-South Reunion Facility Demolished in North Korea.” Radio Free Asia,
[5]Reunification Monument, Pyongyang, North Korea. Erected 2001. Demolished 2024.
[6]Smith, Josh. “North Korea Tears Down Monument Symbolizing Union with South—Report.”
[7]Reuters, January 23, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-tears-down-monument-symbolizing-union-with-south-report-2024-01-23/.