Democratic North Korea and Totalitarian South Korea

[Kaiser Tito]

Say Park Chung-Hee is never assassinated and Kim Il-Sung is overthrown in a Chinese backed coup by generals who don't want North Korea to turn into a monarchy. If North Korea successfully reforms into Democratic Socialism (successfully as China will allow anyway) while South Korea turns to capitalist ultranationalism and sees themselves as the sole rulers of Korea, how would the peninsula look by 2012 when Kim Jong-Un took power otl? Would South Korea be a dynasty ruled by Park Jae-Ok? How would the US justify backing a belligerent totalitarian regime while China gets the easy job of backing a sane North?

 

[Kaiser Tito]

Would everything be the same except the side of the parallel? I'm pretty sure something would change.

 

[kholieken]

Don't think China will tolerate democratic NK.

 

[Gukpard]

@okmangeez what do you think?

 

[Vassonx]

Don't think China will tolerate democratic NK.

I don't think the democratic part has ever bothered China, it is a far less concern to them next to the potentiality of a US ally on their border. If the US decides to throw their lot with the ultranationalist South (that doesn't border China) instead, China probably won't see any qualms in normalized relations with a demsoc North Korea.

 

[Kaiser Tito]

Don't think China will tolerate democratic NK.

I was thinking Pyongyang would be at least somewhere between 1978-2012 China and post 1990 Mongolia.

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

I could see China booting out the Kim family. I think it would be more likely that the replacement regime would be communist rather than democratic. As to US support I think the US would have continued to support an authoritarian regime so long as it did not become too much of an embarrassment. I agree with the comments that China would not want a US military presence in North Korea.

 

[Vassonx]

On top of this, we could also posit that North Korea being a competent demsoc (I'm imagining sth like modern Bolivia, or Attlee's Britain) would probably be more economically open to foreign investments too (especially Chinese).

What I'm imagining is that South Korea would have the corporatist dirigiste economy with massive growth numbers but extreme inequality and a lack of unions.

While North Korea isn't as economically competitive, it has a pleasant standard of life, finally some foreign capital to exploit all their natural resources, and a lot of financial support from a Dengist China that might actually make South Koreans think twice.

 

[nice_pengguin]

Massive pro-Democratic protests were occuring by the time of Pak's death.
I don't see his regime going on much further, in fact democracy may be restored earlier in that case, without Chun's coup after the chaos which followes Pak's death.

 

[Kaiser Tito]

Massive pro-Democratic protests were occuring by the time of Pak's death.
I don't see his regime going on much further, in fact democracy may be restored earlier in that case, without Chun's coup after the chaos which followes Pak's death.

Could Seoul implement the Tiananmen solution?

 

[AstroRangerBeans]

What about the very PoD where Russian Emperor Alexander II narrowly escapes his assassination by radicals would be the good start to implement modernization and industrialization reforms through policies and decrees that abolishes the outdated system and transition into Westminster-styled liberal constitutional monarchy with the Prime Minister exercising more powers?

This would be the good start if the United States under William McKinley, which survived his assassination and the oligarchy period will be continued until the country fell into civil war with the communists or syndicalists winning and then the syndicalist or communist America will challenge democratic Imperial Russia that divided the occupied Korean Peninsula.

Maybe a reverse democratic North Korea will be put under constitutional monarchy by House of Yi while the syndicalist Americans would set up syndicalist or communist totalitarian dictatorship.

 

[Kaiser Tito]

What about the very PoD where Russian Emperor Alexander II narrowly escapes his assassination by radicals would be the good start to implement modernization and industrialization reforms through policies and decrees that abolishes the outdated system and transition into Westminster-styled liberal constitutional monarchy with the Prime Minister exercising more powers?

This would be the good start if the United States under William McKinley, which survived his assassination and the oligarchy period will be continued until the country fell into civil war with the communists or syndicalists winning and then the syndicalist or communist America will challenge democratic Imperial Russia that divided the occupied Korean Peninsula.

Maybe a reverse democratic North Korea will be put under constitutional monarchy by House of Yi while the syndicalist Americans would set up syndicalist or communist totalitarian dictatorship.

Aren't there already capitalist North, communist South threads?

 

[Thon Taddeo]

Could Seoul implement the Tiananmen solution?

The South Koreans did that at Kwangju.

 

[Enigmajones]

If you ask the North Koreans, this is OTL.

 

[Kaiser Tito]

Is there any chance for South Korea to suffer a 94 style famine from corporate mismanagement and would South Korea be able to conduct nuclear tests like the North did otl?

The South Koreans did that at Kwangju.

Well if it ain't broke.

 

[Sam R.]

The only real challenge here before the 2000s is to make North Korea democratic. My go to is that the “indigenous” faction of the Korean party comes out on top in 1949.