PPP slams unification ministry's reference to Koreas as 'two-state relationship'

“Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) denounced the unification ministry Tuesday for describing South and North Korea as a "two-state relationship" in its latest white paper, calling it a clear violation of the Constitution. In the annual white paper released Monday, the first such document issued under the Lee Jae Myung administration, the ministry highlighted the need to shift toward a "peace-oriented two-state relationship" aimed at achieving unification, considering the reality that the Koreas exist as de facto two states. The ministry's reference to the Koreas as two states sparked backlash among opposition lawmakers, who argue that it could be interpreted as effectively recognizing the North as a separate state in violation of Article 3 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the territory of the Republic of Korea consists of the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands. In late 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other." In a statement, PPP Rep. Park Choong-kwon, a North Korean d

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