Daenam (Policy Toward the South)

A term referring to the full range of policies, strategies, propaganda, and covert operations that North Korea directs at South Korea

Daenam

Overview

Daenam (對南, "toward the South") is a term referring to the full range of policies, strategies, propaganda, and covert operations that North Korea directs at South Korea. In a narrow sense, it denotes the means aimed directly at South Korean society, such as broadcasts to the South, leaflets to the South, and operations toward the South; in a broad sense, it encompasses the line toward the South established by the Workers' Party of Korea and the United Front Department, as well as strategies for inter-Korean dialogue and negotiation. It is a concept symmetrical to South Korea's policy toward the North, called "daebuk (對北)," and is one of the key terms for understanding the security environment on the Korean Peninsula.

Main Content

Concept and Scope

Daenam is divided largely into three levels. The first is the state policy level: the line toward the South decided at party congresses and plenary meetings, and negotiation strategies between the two Korean authorities. The second is the propaganda and psychological warfare level: public opinion offensives through broadcasts to the South, leaflets, and internet media. The third is the operations level: non-public activities such as dispatching agents, recruitment, and cyber hacking. North Korea has grouped these three levels under the name "daenam saeop" (work toward the South).

Historical Evolution

From the 1950s to the 1960s, North Korea's line toward the South was based on unification by force and the "revolutionary strategy toward the South." It aimed at overthrowing the government through building underground organizations in South Korea and guerrilla activity, and representative cases are the January 21, 1968 Blue House raid and the armed spy infiltration in Uljin and Samcheok. In the 1970s, a dual tactic of dialogue and confrontation appeared, symbolized by the July 4 South-North Joint Statement of 1972. In the 1980s, operations toward the South and broadcasts to the South began in earnest, and the 1987 bombing of KAL Flight 858 remains a representative case of operations toward the South.

After the end of the Cold War in the 1990s and the adoption of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, the line toward the South alternated between phases of dialogue and crisis. During the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration of 2000 and the Sunshine Policy period, exchanges such as economic cooperation and reunions of separated families expanded, but after 2008, with the launch of conservative governments and the sinking of the Cheonan (2010) and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island (2010), tensions re-expanded. Since Kim Jong Un took power, tactics of pressure toward the South linked to nuclear and missile capabilities have stood out.

Main Means

Broadcasts toward the South (daenam bangsong): propaganda through loudspeaker broadcasts in border areas and radio and TV media. The resumption and removal of loudspeakers between the two Koreas has served as a barometer of tension.
Operations toward the South (daenam gongjak): non-public activities such as agent infiltration, organizational recruitment, and cyber hacking (stealing financial institution and defense data).
Organizations toward the South (daenam gigu): in the past, the United Front Department (departments related to cultural exchange and operations toward the South), the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, and the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee served as contact channels toward the South.
Psychological warfare and public opinion warfare: non-military pressure means such as commentary in media toward the South, scattering leaflets and waste balloons, and GPS jamming.

Daenam within the Structure of Inter-Korean Relations

Policy toward the South has interacted with policy toward the North to create the amplitude of inter-Korean relations. North Korea has repeatedly used the tactic of utilizing contact channels toward the South in dialogue phases to secure economic aid and regime security guarantees, and in confrontation phases raising military tension to maximize negotiating leverage. For this reason, the line toward the South is closely linked to the South Korean government's stance on policy toward the North.

Latest Trends

Through the Workers' Party plenary meeting at the end of 2023 and the Supreme People's Assembly in 2024, North Korea formalized the theory of "relations between two hostile states." It reorganized unification-related organizations and abolished or restructured contact channels toward the South, and pushed measures to define South Korea as a hostile state in the constitution. In 2024, low-intensity complex pressure continued, including waste balloon launches, GPS radio jamming, and the resumption of broadcasts toward the South, and South Korea responded by suspending the effectiveness of the September 19 military agreement and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North. Entering 2025, as psychological warfare toward the South and cyber threats continue, assessments are emerging that the nature of the daenam concept is shifting from "toward the South premised on unification" to "management between hostile states." Meanwhile, daenam (大南) is also used as a place name or trade name, so it must be distinguished according to context.