PM says call for two Korean states violates Constitution

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday that former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok's recent call for South Korea and North Korea to exist as two separate states runs against the Constitution. Han made the remark during a meeting with reporters at the government complex in Sejong, 109 kilometers south of Seoul, noting Article 3 of the Constitution stipulates that the territory of the Republic of Korea consists of the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands. The Republic of Korea is South Korea's formal name. "If you look at the full text of the Constitution, it says the Republic of Korea seeks a peaceful unification order based on a liberal democratic basic order," he said. "The Constitution already says how we should reunify, so with what right is he calling for living separately?" Im, who served as chief of staff to former President Moon Jae-in, made the controversial proposal last week during a ceremony celebrating the sixth anniversary of the Pyongyang Declaration adopted by Moon and No rth Korean leader Kim Jong-un after their summit in September 2018. Conservatives and others have accused Im of abandoning his longstanding call for reunification to align with the North Korean leader's latest characterization of the Koreas as two "hostile" states. "I think it's really wrong," Han said. "It's a violation of the Constitution." President Yoon Suk Yeol made similar remarks during a Cabinet meeting a day earlier, saying "it is an unconstitutional way of thinking." Source: Yonhap News Agency