What if North Korea had lost their Hwanghae and Kangwon provinces to South Korea in the Korean War?

[William_F]

So I what ask here is what if North Korea had managed to be still less lucky even with Chinese help and thus lost their provinces of Hwanghae and Kangwon provinces to South Korea in the Korean War?
What Syngman Rhee would do to these two provinces?
Would Ri Chun-hee even have survived and if so would she become a puppet of Park chung hee to the point of denouncing the Chinese and the Soviets in South Korean national television as nation-splitters?

 

[Gillan1220]

North Korea losses more land. The DMZ is probably a twice the distance it is in OTL.

I am not really familiar with domestic ROK politics, but I can guess that Syngman Rhee would just do the same as OTL with all the provinces under ROK control. I apologize ahead that I cannot comment on Ri Chun-hee since I am unfamiliar with her. For sure, there will be a lot of distrust for the PRC and the Soviets because of their support to the DPRK.

The question next is will Seoul in the future still be within range of North Korean artillery if the DMZ is pushed back higher.

 

[William_F]

North Korea losses more land. The DMZ is probably a twice the distance it is in OTL.

I am not really familiar with domestic ROK politics, but I can guess that Syngman Rhee would just do the same as OTL with all the provinces under ROK control. I apologize ahead that I cannot comment on Ri Chun-hee since I am unfamiliar with her. For sure, there will be a lot of distrust for the PRC and the Soviets because of their support to the DPRK.

The question next is will Seoul in the future still be within range of North Korean artillery if the DMZ is pushed back higher.

Ri Chun-hee is the real life female North Korean newscaster who is famous for wearing a pink hanbok during most normal newscasts in North Korea and for wearing in a black hanbok in the days of scripted lamentation for the deaths of both Kim Il-sung in 1994 and Kim Jong il in 2011 and she was born in July 8,1943 in what is now Tongchon County,Kangwon Province,North Korea

North Korea will keep their artillery close to the new DMZ just like they did in real life with the current DMZ however the location of that new DMZ is somewhat far from Seoul and thus the North Korean artillery would now be more distant from Seoul.

 

[Gillan1220]

Ri Chun-hee is the real life female North Korean newscaster who is famous for wearing a pink hanbok during most normal newscasts in North Korea and for wearing in a black hanbok in the days of scripted lamentation for the deaths of both Kim Il-sung in 1994 and Kim Jong il in 2011 and she was born in July 8,1943 in what is now Tongchon County,Kangwon Province,North Korea

North Korea will keep their artillery close to the new DMZ just like they did in real life with the current DMZ however the location of that new DMZ is somewhat far from Seoul and thus the North Korean artillery would now be more distant from Seoul.

Ri Chun-hee would be in the South then. She would take a different route. Probably won't even be a newscaster due to the butterflies.

With Seoul farther from the DMZ, there won't be fears of a rocket, artillery barrage, or a chemical attack. However, the emergency drills and mandatory military service would still remain.

 

[William_F]

Ri Chun-hee would be in the South then. She would take a different route. Probably won't even be a newscaster due to the butterflies.

With Seoul farther from the DMZ, there won't be fears of a rocket, artillery barrage, or a chemical attack. However, the emergency drills and mandatory military service would still remain.

With the way Park chung hee had become deluded by 1971 I really thought he would make her a newscaster to spew anti-communist propaganda for his political base of followers to watch only for her to later quit that job in 1987 when she realized that the government was using her instinctive anti-communist beliefs to their own ends.

 

[Gillan1220]

With the way Park chung hee had become deluded by 1971 I really thought he would make her a newscaster to spew anti-communist propaganda for his political base of followers to watch only for her to later quit that job in 1987 when she realized that the government was using her instinctive anti-communist beliefs to their own ends.

It's possible, assuming Ri Chun-hee still proceeds with a career of journalism in the expanded South Korea. She'd be the opposite of OTL, spewing pro-Park propaganda.

 

[William_F]

It's possible, assuming Ri Chun-hee still proceeds with a career of journalism in the expanded South Korea. She'd be the opposite of OTL, spewing pro-Park propaganda.

I should remind you that she would be by 1971 a member of the Democratic-Republican Party until Chun doo-hwan ordered its dissolution in October 17th 1980 because Choi-kyu-hah is a mere civilian puppet of Chun doo-hwan

Also she would be wearing a black hanbok and she would again follow with the scripted lamentation for the death of Yuk young-soo, First Lady of South Korea and wife of President Park chung hee in August 15th 1974 and then she would follow again with the scripted lamentation and the black hanbok for the death of Park chung hee himself in October 26th 1979

However during the Yushin years Park would have purged many of the Hwanghae and Kangwon-born journalistic dissenters and sent some others to the Seodamun prison in Seoul,capital of South Korea however in 1987 the expanded South Korea would become democratic.

 

[William_F]

This little timeline in my question only represents one of the various possibilities and still is a moderate scenario timeline.

 

[ramones1986]

Could the North would look for an alternative capital, given Pyongyang's proximity to Hwanghae?

On the other hand, the partition of Gyeonggi into two provinces would be easier, with Kaesong as the capital of (hypothetical) North Gyeonggi.

 

[William_F]

Could the North would look for an alternative capital, given Pyongyang's proximity to Hwanghae?

On the other hand, the partition of Gyeonggi into two provinces would be easier, with Kaesong as the capital of (hypothetical) North Gyeonggi.

If the Kim-led faction believed the Korean War could restart itself it might prudent for them to change the capital to the North Korean city of Kaechon
and a North Gyeonggi Province might be created alongside a South Gyeonggi Province later,possibly after 1987 if not before and Kaesong might be the capital of such a province
Syngman Rhee was from the old undivided Hwanghae Province so he might succeed in playing the political role of native son in that province and thus he can get some leverage to be re-elected by a enlarged National Assembly composed of directly-elected men who owe their offices to him but if that still failed he would pull his usual tricks once the situation in Hwanghae and Kangwon turns favorable to him

And having both Haeju,Kaesong and Sokcho in the Republic of Korea would be appreciated.

However I remember that another member of this site imagined a scenario where the lack of Kaesong collapsed the North Korean regime in the 1990s and this might change modern politics in East Asia and elsewhere to levels I can not recognize as political currents may shift in the favor of entirely different politicians.
.

 

[William_F]

This turned well.

 

[stubear1012]

I like maps.

 

[ahmedali]

I think losing a few territory makes Kim Il Sung's position less stable and more fragile

(Good because he who would replace him would be sane and not turn North Korea into a crazy hermit kingdom)

As for South Korea, without the megalomaniac from the proximity of the capital to the offensive line

I see South Korea as more reasonable and compromising towards the North

 

[William_F]

I think losing a few territory makes Kim Il Sung's position less stable and more fragile

(Good because he who would replace him would be sane and not turn North Korea into a crazy hermit kingdom)

As for South Korea, without the megalomaniac from the proximity of the capital to the offensive line

I see South Korea as more reasonable and compromising towards the North

Maybe the 1956 attempt at removing Kim Il-sung from his posts in the government of North Korea might be more successful.
As for Syngman Rhee his anti-communist purges might leave the same people who ousted Syngman Rhee in 1960 OTL with a bigger advantage so Syngman Rhee might run the risk being ousted earlier

 

[frustrated progressive]

With Pyongyang right on the frontlines, maybe less effort is put into developing it as a showcase capital, and more effort funneled towards neglected cities farther north, like Hamhung or Chongjin?

 

[William_F]

With Pyongyang right on the frontlines, maybe less effort is put into developing it as a showcase capital, and more effort funneled towards neglected cities farther north, like Hamhung or Chongjin?

The North Korean government would be forced to funnel their development efforts to either Hamhung or Chongjin.

 

[CarlosTheAltHistoryGuy]

Ri Chun-hee would be in the South then. She would take a different route. Probably won't even be a newscaster due to the butterflies.

With Seoul farther from the DMZ, there won't be fears of a rocket, artillery barrage, or a chemical attack. However, the emergency drills and mandatory military service would still remain.

Or if she is still a newscaster then she ends up on CNN, or whatever news service they have in South Korea

 

[William_F]

Or if she is still a newscaster then she ends up on CNN, or whatever news service they have in South Korea

Well,the situation is that by 1980 she would have moved to the Yonhap News Agency.

 

[William_F]

For reference,according to South Korea this is how the map should be.

 

[ahmedali]

good map

But I think that the common industrial zone between the south should be included