The following paragraphs about how North Korea views "reconciliation" (or more popularly, reunification) are found in this LA Times article about an oddly-timed baby birth by a suspected South Korean Pro-North Korea activist (say that fast 5 times):
When North Koreans speak of reunification, their meaning is radically different from what Americans might think in recalling the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the absorption of the communist East by West Germany. Instead, the North Koreans describe a loose confederation under which their nation would keep its own system of government while receiving massive economic aid from the South.
"We don't want what happened in Germany," tour guide Pak Gyong Nam said as he showed visitors a 185-foot-high stone arch portraying two women in traditional Korean dress (one representing each Korea) touching hands across a broad thoroughfare known as Reunification Street. "We would be one country, but two governments.
"If Korea is reunified, South Korea will bring in technology and investment. We have great confidence in the future. If we are reunited, no problem."
The benefits of "reconciliation" without the need to fundamentally change--that sounds familiar to me somehow.
Meanwhile, here's another article about life in the Gulags of N. Korea.
