Don't discount North Korea in fact, be weary!

Most people discount the North korean's military cappabilities and write then off as an "under developed" "impoverished" nation. Ever wonder why the world community coddles them? why the world community has been giving in to their demands for decades? Why the tables always seem to turn to their favor? well I postulate a simple answer: the world and namely the U.S is "affraid" of a war with North Korea. Many can insult this opinion but few can deny that if a war broke out between the North and the United states it would be a horrific catastrophie of epic proportions, and the absolute loss of life would be devestating.

North Korea does in fact posses the military might needed for a full out war with the U.S, but above that [they] posses a drive to fight and win, indoctrunated into them from a young age.

North Korea is one of the few nations that can engage in a total war with the United States. The US war planners recognize this fact. For example, on March 7, 2000, Gen. Thomas A Schwartz, the US commander in Korea at the time, testified at a US congressional hearing that "North Korea is the country most likely to involve the United States in a large-scale war."

With the "cat and mouse" game even still today being played with the North, and the date of their "satelite" launch approaching, we may see a conflict between the U.S and North Korea due in part to the United States unwillingness to allow the placement of that type of equiptment into orbit.

Third, North Korea's total war plan has two components: massive conventional warfare and weapons of mass destruction. If the US mounts a preemptive strike on North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear plants, North Korea will retaliate with weapons of mass destruction: North Korea will mount strategic nuclear attacks on the US targets. The US war planners know this and have drawn up their own nuclear war plan. In a nuclear exchange, there is no front or rear areas, no defensive positions or attack formations as in conventional warfare. Nuclear weapons are offensive weapons and there is no defense against nuclear attacks except retaliatory nuclear attacks. For this reason, North Korea's war plan is offensive in nature: North Korea's war plan goes beyond repulsing US attackers and calls for destruction of the United States.

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It has long been speculated that the reclusive nation does in fact posses nuclear weapons, possibly purchased from the former communist soviet Union.Public knowledge of this would of course be kept on a "need to know" basis and most likely not be "mainstream"

North Korea and Nuclear Weapons: The Declassified U.S. Record

North Korea's nuclear weapons program has moved back to the front pages with the unprecedented acknowledgement by North Korea during talks this week in Beijing that the North has developed nuclear weapons. News of this revelation came as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs James A. Kelly was preparing to leave Beijing for consultations in Seoul, and leaves the future of the talks uncertain and the threat of a potential escalation in tensions on the peninsula high. This is but the latest step in a simmering crisis that began with the admission by North Korea, after being confronted with hard evidence by Assistant Secretary Kelly in October 2002, that it has been pursuing in secret a nuclear weapons program in violation of the Agreed Framework of 1994 and its adherence to the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Pyongyang's subsequent actions in asserting the right to possess nuclear weapons, breaking the seals on its nuclear reactor put there by the International Atomic Energy Agency, withdrawing from the NPT and the expulsion of IAEA inspectors from the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, have kept the crisis simmering, and laid the basis for reported splits within the Bush administration over the best strategy for dealing with Pyongyang. Seemingly replaying debates marking the lead-up to the war with Iraq, newspaper analyses portray the State Department under Secretary of State Colin Powell pressing for diplomacy and efforts to reassure the North Koreans that the U.S. was not seeking regime change, while Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has reportedly called for joining with Beijing to push for removal of the North Korean regime. (Note 1)

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Wiki

Seems diplomacy is the only answer right? maybe not as the needs of the North Korean government are becoming exceedingly unhealthy and demanding.
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Yesterday, the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA) released $25 million that had been parked in frozen North Korean accounts. BDA had been a major conduit for North Korean cash, from both legal and illegal activities, and Pyongyang had refused to abide to its nuclear commitments under the February 13 Six Party Talks agreement until the funds were released. The Bush Administration's agreement to link the BDA matter to the Six Party Talks needlessly undermined U.S. diplomatic efforts and set a dangerous precedent for future nuclear negotiations with North Korea, as well as with Iran. Still, now that this issue has seemingly been resolved, the U.S. must press North Korea to provide a complete data declaration that includes details on its highly enriched uranium-based nuclear weapons program and to agree to stringent verification measures to ensure the destruction of its nuclear weapons facilities and nuclear weapons.

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www.rt66.com...

While it's possible for one to think of the North Koreans military as "outdated" it can't be argued that they have not been prepairing for conflict for decades, honning their tactics, training for every possible scenario, and prepairing the civillian population as well remember they did not surrender during the Korean war, only an armistice and cease fire agreement was reached, they remain poised and ready for war at a moments notice.
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MOD EDIT: to correct Capitalization in Thread Title

[edit on 3/22/2009 by benevolent tyrant]

It would depend on how we would want to fight them in my opinion. If your talking can we blow them up? Yeah and it wouldn't take us very long until there was little left. If we are talking about bringing troops in then it would be hell.

I think you could say this about almost any of the big names in the news these days. We could wipe china off the map but if we ever were to try and invade them we would see just how big their army is. Iraq took us very little to tear apart but now we have been there for years trying to occupy it.

So I guess it depends on what we want the outcome to be and I agree with you it would be a large loss of life. They also have a few neighbors that would probably get into it before we got the chance. China would not be very happy with them if they started firing off nukes in the area and the fallout affected them.

+1^^. Yes we could bomb them into oblivion, but an infantry invasion would be out of the question. North Korea has alot of artillery. Ground forces would be under shell fire day and night. It would take a while for the bombers to take out the artillery positions, so you would see anyone in the path of that artillery get toasted. Thus, any war with any country no larger than Iraq etc., It will be a huge bomb fest.

Ok let me start by saying what planet do you live on? No serriously i was stationed in korea and ill tell you the rok soldiers will be more than capable of handling the north koreans. As for N Korea claiming to have nukes i wouldnt believe it they built propaganda city just to make the south think life is so much better in the notyh but no one actually lives there. Though it does have the worlds largest flagpole! Truth is they have a large army but they dont have any equipment and worse cant feed them thats why most of there military live at home. If things get out of control all we have to do is leave the country and within 6 months south korea will take care of the problem they want to invade and take Korea back were stopping them. so all i say is nice theory but weak in facts.

The reason they are coddled is because they have the capability to wipe Seoul off of the map in a matter of minutes with their previously mentioned artillery. They are not a threat to the US.

It is all about risk and reward. Many people would be lost in full blown war with North Korea but there would be little reward for the cost. We could fight them with our military at the cost of many lives and billions of dollars, or we could do what we have been doing. We can simply wait them out. They can't feed their people, they have a large but under equipped military and a crazy leader. If we simply keep our hands off, they stand a very good chance of just fizzling out. On the other hand, if we choose to go to war with them we would be taking a much larger risk and most likely kill a lot more people in the process.

reply to post by dragonridr


Hi there! I too was stationed in Korea,

I want to address the part of your post where you attacked the "facts" did you (1) read the entire article quoted? (2) read any of the links I provided?
If so then great you, have to agree they pose an intruguing counter to your position, and as far as the ROK soldiers go, most of them don't want the U.S there to beguin with and I've known a few who said they would kill Americans as well as North Koreans.

reply to post by Karlhungis


Hi Karl, I will direct you to the part of the article following , "North Korea makes it's own weapons" look at those numbers! I'm sure we can't state the accuracy but in all fairness it's got to be close.

reply to post by alyosha1981


North Korea may make a lot of weapons but they are still pretty low tech in comparison. I doubt we would be able to ever have a successful occupation of the country but I don't doubt our ability to win a war with them. I guess it all depends on what your definition of victory would be. I doubt we could break their will to fight but I don't doubt our ability to completely destroy their military infrastructure and the rest of their country.

Originally posted by Karlhungis
but I don't doubt our ability to completely destroy their military infrastructure and the rest of their country.

I see, problem is that their infastructure is their military and their military is their infastructure, civillians as well.