Political Tensions in South Korea, North Korea's Silence: What Message Is Kim's Regime Sending?

Political Tensions in South Korea, North Korea's Silence: What Message Is Kim's Regime Sending?

While the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has created a stir worldwide, North Korea's state media has surprisingly remained completely silent on the matter. Even after President Yoon's impeachment in South Korea's parliament over alleged attempts to impose martial law, North Korea's main news outlets, Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), have not published any reports.

North Korea's Previous Reactions: When South Korea's then-President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2016, North Korean media released a report within just four hours, calling South Korea "politically unstable and corrupt." However, this time, the reaction to Yoon's impeachment has been strikingly different.

Possible Reasons for North Korea's Silence:

1. Strengthening Relations with China and Russia
   North Korea is currently focusing on strengthening its ties with China and Russia. Due to its military cooperation with Russia and support in the Ukraine war, North Korea does not seem to prioritize the political crisis in South Korea.

2. Maintaining Stability on the Korean Peninsula
   According to North Korea's recent policy, they are not prioritizing reunification or escalating conflict with South Korea. Even in 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made it clear that they have no plans for improving relations with South Korea.

3. Opportunity to Weaken the U.S.-Led Alliance
   South Korea’s political instability and the impeachment of Yoon could negatively affect the trilateral alliance between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. This situation gives North Korea an opportunity to strengthen its military and diplomatic cooperation with Russia and China.

North Korea's Strategic Perspective: Analysts suggest that Pyongyang is now conducting a "cost-benefit analysis" to determine its strategic goals. Maintaining strong military cooperation with Russia and avoiding Western sanctions is their priority. The political instability in South Korea no longer offers any strategic advantage to North Korea.

Experts say this silence sends a message to South Korea—that the days of excessive concern over North Korea's influence are over. Pyongyang no longer sees South Korea’s political crisis as an opportunity to incite revolution.

This silence from North Korea indicates that South Korea's internal crisis has largely shifted off Pyongyang's priority list. It is part of a strategy for reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and rebalancing North Korea's international position.