-Death of Kim-Il-Sung combined with famine of 1994 leads to massive dissatisfaction with the regime. Desperate farmers cling to their own foodstuffs secretly and the cities suffer even more. Without outside aid, Kim-Jong-Il is unable to consolidate his reign and suffers an ouster by the military. The new leader consolidates his reign in early 1996 by purging the old Kim loyalists he does not directly trust. He then publically makes an astonishing offer: total unification with South Korea on its own terms in exchange for massive food aid and pardons for all existing North Korean military personnel in his regime.
-1997 sees the Treaty of Kaesong with the two Koreas to merge as the Republic of Korea on January 1, 1998 or "Unity Day". This new Republic of Korea is to become the "Switzerland of the East" in that it remains absolutely neutral in all world affairs. No more US military bases, no more meddling with China, and the DMZ is to become an international park both to promote biodiversity and remember the flagging Cold War. Seoul will remain the capital but judiciary functions and the military academy will relocate to Pyongyang. China also extracts its pound of flesh in that all claims to Manchuria are to be set aside now and forever
-2000 notes the "Completion" of reunification with ceremonies held at the Ryugyong Government Office Complex, the bureaucratic heart of the new government, located in Pyongyang. Investors flock to the new country though tied to a new law stipulating that Korean ownership must control 35% of the controlling stock of any new company founded after Unity Day. Rare earth materials are exploited quickly and processed in-country while the space program turns the designs and materials for the Taepodong launch system into a viable SLS. South Korean engineers coordinate and improve on the native design somewhat.
-October 1, 2003 witnesses the Republic of Korea launch its manned "Geobukseon" capsule as a prototype. China shortly thereafter becomes the fourth nation to launch a domestically built capsule into orbit. Beijing is furious but there is little they can do, the "Turtle Ship" successfully completes eight full orbits of the Earth before a successful return that misfires, forcing the capsule to land just 1/3 mile off the coast of Havana, Cuba. Fidel Castro takes the opportunity for a photo op, handing the brave "Turtlenaut" a lit Cuban cigar not realizing that the man speaks no Spanish and is still delirious from the unexpectedly rough impact.
-2005 sees the first fully democratic elections throughout the Korean peninsula, the new President is a middle-aged South Korean whose father was an infant refugee from the North and thus claims ties to both. Although South Korea is initially much larger, the prospect of open lands drives many Koreans into the "countryside" quickly and boom towns are built north of the border. This is also the year when the Camp 19 Trials end with the execution of 45 Kim family loyalists and 15 others responsible for over 350,000 deaths by various means for political reasons.
-By 2010 RoK nuclear technology leads the world with prototype Generation 4 nuclear reactors and workable Generation 3 reactors into the 100KW range able to fit in large buildings. Korean space technology also continues its leaps with the continued construction of "Galileo", a 12-person space station with 0.5g rotating ring design at a radius of 25 meters (made using 2 sets of ten jettisoned fuel tanks arranged in a circle, the fuel tanks are from the "Mountain Wind" launch system, formerly known as Taepo-Dong 4) designed to promote long-term habitability.
-2012 notes the launch of the Kia Bolt using a new form of Lithium Ion battery in the solid state, permitting a range of 350 miles on a single charge for a family of five at a cost of only US$25,000. Production begins slowly and demand ramps up quickly as the performance and acceleration characteristics lead to widespread desirability
-2015 see Kia emerge as the second largest car manufacturer in the world behind Toyota and General Motors, the latter of which is working to avoid acquisition by Kia by hostile take-over. Following a Korean landing on the moon the year before, a permanent lunar base is established with the birth of the first child, a girl, on the lunar station just before year's end (it is entirely a publicity stunt using a trained Turtlenaut and her husband, the child is exposed to significantly higher radiation than originally intended and the parents use much of their fame raising money for her care later). With the launch of the Kia Zeus the year before, the "ultimate sportscar" is now electric with a 700 mile range even in southern Canada. Their "Volanto" line of minivans carry seven with characteristics more akin to high-end petrol sportscars with the safety of modern SUVs.
By 2015 the average Korean lifespan is 82.8 - males 80, females 85.6 - and even in North Korea the quality of life is easily that of Luxembourg or the Netherlands. Farm productivity makes Korea a self-feeding country thanks to vastly more efficient farms in the North and vertical farming in the South aided by technology derived from the Space Program. Planned missions to Mars are on everyone's mind and a Generation IV powered vehicle is already under construction for the trip. The crew of six - three married couples - returns from Mars on August 21, 2019 following three months "in country" using a modified VASMIR propulsion system and one "micronized" molten sodium salt reactors for power production of 50MW. The four 500KW magnetic propulsion systems use space itself to cool superconducting magnets that control the direction of the propulsion. This permits a one-way trip to Mars at optimal orbit of only 25 days, permitting the "Turtlenauts" a chance to set up long-duration equipment on the surface and for Korea to ponder a Mars Base before the decade is out. Its lunar base is projected to open its first hotel while the first "civilian" space station for 500 tourists is expected to open the same year at 0.8 g with tickets initially costing $100,000 each for a five-night all-inclusive stay.