North Korea’s reported move to redefine its territory in a revised constitution has formalized a political reality that Pyongyang has advocated in recent years: the existence of two separate Korean states.

But while the DPRK has drawn a clear line across the heavily fortified land border, it has left a far more sensitive question unresolved — where the maritime frontier between the two Koreas begins and ends. 

For decades, the disputed waters off the west coast have been among the Korean Peninsula’s most volatile flashpoints, triggering deadly naval clashes, artillery exchanges and competing sovereignty claims.

By seemingly backtracking on its