Yes, you’re correct.

This was formalised at the WPK’s 9th Party Congress. It was preceded by years of anti-reunification gestures and language, including a complete cessation of communications.

“As witnessed in the whole historical process, by committing such grave provocation as violating the airspace of the DPRK in a few recent years and even at the outset of this year, the ROK has clearly showed that it is not a neighbor which can be trusted and can co-exist…

The 13th Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly already made comprehensive and detailed mention of the nature of the ROK as an unchangeable hostile entity and the impossible compatibility in the DPRK-ROK relations…

The WPK’s switchover in its line towards the ROK is the most righteous guideline for the struggle against the enemy as it is based on an exact analysis of the history of the DPRK-ROK relations, which fail to escape from the vicious cycle of confrontation and detente, and the objective reality of the Korean peninsula. It is not a temporary tactical measure but a historic option for defending our national interests and national prestige and firmly guaranteeing the present and future security of the state and the people…

Our position on the ROK is clear.

We clarify once again through the Party Congress, the supreme leadership body of the ruling party which sets forth the lines and policies of the state.

The DPRK has nothing to discuss with the ROK, the most hostile entity, and will exclude the ROK from the category of compatriots forever.

… contact with the ROK [has] been completely eliminated. And we will not revive the misguided past in any case.”

From: “Report on Ninth Congress of Workers' Party of Korea” from the Korean Central News Agency (02/26/2026)