It is unlikely that North Vietnam would produce anything like the Kims of NKR. Not impossible, just unlikely, in my opinion. What this mean is that had Viet Nam been partitioned throughout the Cold War, South Viet Nam would have been like South Korea, and once the Soviet Union collapsed, Viet Nam would be whole again under southern leadership towards unity and economic prosperity.
Here is what you and others do not understand: When people vote with their feet, as in becoming refugees, that is a sign for the current leadership that there are enough people who will tolerate division in the hope of a better country in the future.
That is why East Germans shot escapees, why Cubans and Mexicans risk lives and limbs to come to the US, why there was a constant stream of refugees in Viet Nam going north to south, why there was 'the boat people' after Viet Nam was unified, why there was a constant stream of Viets trying to leave the country, and why there is still such a flow today in VN.
Do you see any Canadians trying to 'escape' to the US ? From East Germans, to Mexicans, to Cubans, to North Koreans, and to Vietnamese, these people cannot be all 'traitors'. Their governments failed them and failed them spectacularly. Such governments do not deserve the people's loyalty and any attempt to cast the people in such light ignores history. They flee because they lack the means to rebel. The courage to flee is equal to the courage to rebel.
