New Korean war could involve Canada, federal documents suggest

The article claims that as of right now this is not a likely scenario...but didn't ww1 get so out of control partially due to a series of alliances that would not allow governments to back down?
Food for thought

Jester

Source

reply to post by the cynic jester


From the article:

Evans said it is not inconceivable that a Canadian navy warship could find itself operating in South Asian waters in the coming months, either as an add on to any continued U.S. navy presence or part of a stepped up international effort to interdict North Korean vessels.

Canada announced last month it was adopting a "controlled engagement" policy, ending all official bilateral contacts between Ottawa and Kim Jong Il's regime in Pyongyang.

It's funny when you learn something about your country you didn't know huh?

An unlikely scenario perhaps, interesting that we've found ourselves in that potential situation though. I wonder if all the other countries who were involved are tied in this as well? I wonder what their obligations would be.

~Keeper

I had a supervisor at one time who was in Korea in the Canadian Army.
He seemed to think the whole thing then was a big proxy war
and that the people there were just victims of a much bigger play.
Looks to me, he was right.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


That's what bothers me. The Korean war only involved the UN because the soviets boycotted that council meeting. I had no idea we were part of the UNC or that something like that even existed. Even having this brought to my attention feels odd. However unlikely I will be very vocal if we become embroiled in that tangled mess again.

Jester

reply to post by Danbones


My grandmas boyfriend is a vet who was wounded there. He recently returned from a diplomatic visit there to receive an award or something...he said roughly the same thing.

Jester

reply to post by the cynic jester


not much you can really do. technically Canada is still at war with NK because they was there in the 50's and they are a signatory of the armistice.

And yes the Korean war was a Proxy war. it was during that whole period of time when the U.S. and her allies were afraid of commie expansion.

reply to post by the cynic jester



I'm kind of fed up with trying to portray my country as peaceful these days. Feels like we stick our noses where it doesn't belong and it's starting to catch up with us maybe?

I certainly don't feel we should be taking part in any Korean war. Unless something ridiculous happens and we realize it's just the only right thing to do. You know, WW2 style.

~Keeper

So if the # does hit the fan in Korea we could wake up one morning to find Canadian soldiers headed to war. Because of a half century old proxy war, we only fought because the Soviets were caught snoozing. Madness.

Jester

reply to post by tothetenthpower


lol really the reason we got into the second ww was because the president knew about the fleet of japs coming and let it happen so we could get into ww2. He knew the U.S. didn't want to go to war again and would be against it. While that isn't proven or said in the history books we know it to be true here. LOL proxy war and Canada my grampa was in the first korean conflict so it wasn't a true proxy war he isn't Canadian but i dont blame you for being scared or cautious about this war i want nothing to do with it as well these two countries have been fighting each other for years now with no clear winner and its just a waste of good trained soldiers

I doubt that Canada would be involved in a real shooting war there. This is not so much due to our alliance commitments, as how I would expect the conflict to develop.

In my view, it would happen very quickly...like a response to a major provocation, followed by a very ramped up further strike by the original actor, followed by full blown hostilities...in a matter of days or weeks.

Unlike the response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, where months of preparations were made, political/military alliances called upon to build up a multi-national force, etc., etc. (under which the Canadian Forces dispatched F-18 and other assets).

If NK and SK really get it on, there would be a huge mess involving over a million soldiers in less time that it would take to sail a destroyer into the theatre.

About the only way Canada would get into the fray, so to speak, is if the North and South fought to a stalemate...and some kind of coalition building occurred to bolster political support for whatever American build up was required to turn the tide (or to try to, if China was pouring in support for the North).

Hopefully, China is able to put the reigns on Kim Jong Il during his remaining days in power - and can get NK to completely change direction under Kim Jong Un. Maybe the Chinese will be able to convince the younger dictator that it will be better for him to trade with SK and America, than to try to fight them.

Does this mean the UK, Australia and New Zealand would get dragged back into it all too? They are also all technically still at war with North Korea.