Politics13 December 1991

Inter-Korean Basic Agreement

The two Koreas adopted an agreement recognizing each other’s systems and pledging non-aggression, exchanges and cooperation, followed by a joint declaration on denuclearization.

On 13 December 1991 high-level talks in Seoul adopted the Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression, and Exchanges and Cooperation (in force February 1992). It defined inter-Korean relations as "not relations between states but a special relationship formed provisionally in the process toward unification", and pledged mutual recognition of systems, non-aggression and wider exchanges.

On 31 December the two sides also agreed the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, renouncing the testing, production and possession of nuclear weapons.

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States and rulers at the time: South Korea · signatory — President Roh Tae-woo
North Korea · signatory — Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung

People

Roh Tae-woo1932 – 2021
related figure · 13th President (1988–1993). Announced the June 29 Declaration, became the first president directly elected under the 1987 constitution, and pursued Nordpolitik

Before and after

Earlier: 1991 Simultaneous Admission of the Two Koreas to the UN
Later: 1993 Real-Name Financial System

Themes that include this event

Changing Unification Policies1948 – 2018
From “march north” to the Panmunjom Declaration — inter-Korean relations from confrontation to dialogue, through joint statements and agreements to summits (up to 2018)