South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol embraced a new vision of unification that seeks to “extend freedom” to the suffering masses in North Korea on Thursday, deviating from decades of policy toward Pyongyang by all but explicitly endorsing regime change and peaceful unification under ROK rule.

In a 20-minute speech to mark National Liberation Day, Yoon framed his unification doctrine as a continuation of efforts to liberate the Korean Peninsula from not only Japanese colonial rule but also the Kim family’s authoritarian dictatorship.

“The freedom we enjoy must be extended to the frozen kingdom of the North, where people are deprived