Korean reunification

Korean reunification is the hypothetical unification of North Korea and South Korea into a singular Korean sovereign state. Prior to World War I and Korea under Japanese rule (1910–1945), all of Korea had been unified as a single state for over a millennium, notably under the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties (the latter of which was declared the Korean Empire in 1897). After the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel (now the Korean Demilitarized Zone). North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union, and later administered by the Workers' Party of Korea under Kim Il Sung. South Korea was occupied by the United States, later becoming independent under dictator Syngman Rhee. Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. The Korean War, which began in June 1950, ended in a stalemate in July 1953.

After the end of the Korean War, cooperation proved a challenge as the two countries increasingly diverged at a steady pace. The relations between North and South Korea warmed during the 2000s, when South Korea pursued the Sunshine Policy of greater engagement with the North, and again in late 2010s. The two countries declared moving towards reunification of the peninsula while still maintaining two opposing regimes at the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration in June 2000, was reaffirmed by the October 4th Declaration in October 2007 and the Panmunjom Declaration in April 2018. In the Panmunjom Declaration, the two countries agreed to work to officially end the Korean conflict in the future. Subsequently, relations have since deteriorated. In 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un officially "ruled out unification" with South Korea and instead described the relationship as one between "two hostile states", demolishing the Arch of Reunification in Pyongyang and removing references to reunification in media and art, most notably changing the lyrics of the National Anthem. In recent decades, public support for reunification in South Korea has dropped, especially among the younger generation. Polls in 2025 showed that, for the first time in history, a majority of South Koreans did not favour reunification with the North.