WI Korean Reunification with a 'normal communist' North Korea?

Let's suppose Kim Il-sung dies before he can consolidate power or simply gets outmanoeuvred by one of the other factions in the Workers' Party of Korea in the power struggle of the early 50s. That means no cult of personality and no Kim Dynasty, as Kim Jong-il is still way a kid and way too young to play any role in politics. That opens up the possibility of North Korea developing like a more standard Eastern Bloc communist country with greater variation in leadership.

Assuming this leads to an end to communism in 1989 or 1990, how does Korean Reunification go? Will it follow the model of Germany, with the entire process being completed before the end of 1990, or would there be extenuating reasons to put off official reunification? Reasons for that could be the massive differences in economic systems and levels of development. I'm not sure how much the differences in development between West and East Germany are comparable to the differences between South and North Korea in 1990. And then there's the matter of China complicating things, as they'll want guarantees no American troops will set foot in the former DPRK before they'll agree to reunification. Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
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It sort of depends on the exact progression of this communist state. If it "Chinifies" and reforms into kind of state-capital system with the support of China after the fall of the SU then I think you could see a long term project for reunification, but nothing so quick as what happened in Germany. For sure there'd be a lot more travel back and forth, and mutual development. The DMZ is probably going to see a significant reduction in tensions. Maybe you could even see the end of conscription done together as a sign of trust between the two states. One issue with actual reunification is going to be the politics though. If we assume this alternate NK is more like China then there's going to be mini dynasties within the state, meaning they're going to be resistant to giving up their place in society, as they would almost certainly have to in the democracy necessary as a prerequisite for reunification.

One thing that might be interesting is a longer lasting SK military dictatorship and a, as you said, "normal" communist NK. Those two states might be better able to negotiate reunification than a fully democratic SK would.
 
It sort of depends on the exact progression of this communist state. If it "Chinifies" and reforms into kind of state-capital system with the support of China after the fall of the SU then I think you could see a long term project for reunification, but nothing so quick as what happened in Germany. For sure there'd be a lot more travel back and forth, and mutual development. The DMZ is probably going to see a significant reduction in tensions. Maybe you could even see the end of conscription done together as a sign of trust between the two states. One issue with actual reunification is going to be the politics though. If we assume this alternate NK is more like China then there's going to be mini dynasties within the state, meaning they're going to be resistant to giving up their place in society, as they would almost certainly have to in the democracy necessary as a prerequisite for reunification.

One thing that might be interesting is a longer lasting SK military dictatorship and a, as you said, "normal" communist NK. Those two states might be better able to negotiate reunification than a fully democratic SK would.

OK, that makes sense. But what happens if North Korea doesn't follow China's example and communism collapses under public protest as it did in Eastern Europe? Would China step in to prevent communism from falling? If yes, there has to be some kind of response from South Korea and the US. If not, then North Korea will lose its legimitization, namely that its communist/Juche government is the legal government of all of Korea. What happens next is anyone's guess.
 
I wonder what cultural effects that a reunification would have on Korea. The northern half of the country would probably be relatively poorer and more conservative than the south, much like eastern Germany today.
 
Even in the event of Korean reunification, the US would probably insist on having some troops remaining in Korea, just to show the flag and also for the local economy (jobs you know). A compromise could reached with the PRC to make the Yalu River border a neutral zone and a guarantee no US troops can set foot into that zone. Comments?
 
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