I'm inclined to think that the casualties caused by an invasion or North Korea now would be far better than the casualties caused by a DPRK nuke five years from now.
As for piracy, I've heard stories that the government will intentionally cut the power to a building and then raid the apartments inside to search for foreign discs that are stuck in people's DVD players, so who knows.
A lot of North Korea's power structure is well fed men with rifles, which is about two up on a good deal of people there. Don't expect a welcome reception to any military action taken by the USA.
Forgive my hubris but it doesn't sound that hard to drop some bombs on NK's power structure and some ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets everywhere else. It's not the 50's anymore.
I don't know how SK's air power is, and China would be pissed off.
Bombs are smarter, soldiers are just as stupid as ever.
As far as anyone can tell Best Korea doesn't have the capability yet, although they did surprise everyone when they said "Oh hey, check out our sweet uranium enrichment facility", which led to half of the CIA shitting it's pants, and the other half saying "I told you so".
I'm not entirely convinced that all of the equipment in the plant is entirely functional, the expert was only allowed to see it from above so
I mean I could be wrong, it wouldn't surprise me, but given their shenanigans in the past I would find it equally likely that some tomfoolery is involved
Why would they need to enrich uranium when they have cold fusion?
As far as anyone can tell Best Korea doesn't have the capability yet, although they did surprise everyone when they said "Oh hey, check out our sweet uranium enrichment facility", which led to half of the CIA shitting it's pants, and the other half saying "I told you so".
I'm not entirely convinced that all of the equipment in the plant is entirely functional, the expert was only allowed to see it from above so
I mean I could be wrong, it wouldn't surprise me, but given their shenanigans in the past I would find it equally likely that some tomfoolery is involved
Why would they need to enrich uranium when they have cold fusion?
I think that the dear leader can enrich uranium with the power of his mind.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
I have my doubts about the effectiveness of air-dropped propaganda. "Hmm, I've heard all my life that the evil Americans and the Japanese are to blame for our problems. But these mysterious pamphlets from the sky say otherwise. And hey, look, free sandwich! I guess my country is a corrupt mess that can't produce something as delicious as this ham sandwich."
I guess what I'm saying is, the sandwiches should be pretty damn good to get through decades of brainwashing. Pulled pork, perhaps.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
I have my doubts about the effectiveness of air-dropped propaganda. "Hmm, I've heard all my life that the evil Americans and the Japanese are to blame for our problems. But these mysterious pamphlets from the sky say otherwise. And hey, look, free sandwich! I guess my country is a corrupt mess that can't produce something as delicious as this ham sandwich."
I guess what I'm saying is, the sandwiches should be pretty damn good to get through decades of brainwashing. Pulled pork, perhaps.
That seems expensive. What about McRibs?
MuddBudd on
There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
I have my doubts about the effectiveness of air-dropped propaganda. "Hmm, I've heard all my life that the evil Americans and the Japanese are to blame for our problems. But these mysterious pamphlets from the sky say otherwise. And hey, look, free sandwich! I guess my country is a corrupt mess that can't produce something as delicious as this ham sandwich."
I guess what I'm saying is, the sandwiches should be pretty damn good to get through decades of brainwashing. Pulled pork, perhaps.
Things are so bad, they're eating anything that grows or crawls right now.
It's hard to mass produce high quality pulled pork, but I'm sure there are vast cavernous storehouses of the ingredients that go into ham & egg mcmuffins. They've probably been there since the 80's and just as 'fresh' as the day they were made. The initial saturation (no pun intended) is key, then worry about nutrition once the regime falls.
Edit: We will not concede our limited supply of McRibs.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
But then the regime tells everyone that the food and pamphlets are poisoned and it's more evidence of the foreigners trying to kill them. Anyone found eating a sandwich is a traitor and must be shot.
What you have to do is fire the ham directly into the mouths of the Best Koreans. We surely have the technology.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
But then the regime tells everyone that the food and pamphlets are poisoned and it's more evidence of the foreigners trying to kill them. Anyone found eating a sandwich is a traitor and must be shot.
Forgive my hubris but it doesn't sound that hard to drop some bombs on NK's power structure and some ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets everywhere else. It's not the 50's anymore.
I don't know how SK's air power is, and China would be pissed off.
The best in the world probably, there is so much air power concetrated in that region they could level the country in 24 hours, easily.
Forgive my hubris but it doesn't sound that hard to drop some bombs on NK's power structure and some ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets everywhere else. It's not the 50's anymore.
I don't know how SK's air power is, and China would be pissed off.
The best in the world probably, there is so much air power concetrated in that region they could level the country in 24 hours, easily.
The problem isn't bombing them. The problem is the number of long range cannons pointed at South Korea that would go off before we could stop them all.
MuddBudd on
There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Though this is something I was wondering about recently: what's crime like in these totalitarian states?
The official rates tend to hover at 0.
The official rates are, for obvious reasons, not particularly reliable, so we don't really know.
It would depend on the totalitarian state. As unpopular as it sounds, you can compare it to asking, "How is crime in the free world?" It varies enormously.
In North Korea, it still depends on what type of crime you're talking about. A few years back, western estimations were that violent crime was by all standards low. It may have changed since then.
Though this is something I was wondering about recently: what's crime like in these totalitarian states?
The official rates tend to hover at 0.
The official rates are, for obvious reasons, not particularly reliable, so we don't really know.
It would depend on the totalitarian state. As unpopular as it sounds, you can compare it to asking, "How is crime in the free world?" It varies enormously.
In North Korea, it still depends on what type of crime you're talking about. A few years back, western estimations were that violent crime was by all standards low. It may have changed since then.
Sure. I'm just saying that all the data we have is pretty suspect by definition. It's not like Gallup can run an NCVS analogue in North Korea or Libya or Zaire or whatever.
How much of a military threat is Best Korea to South Korea? I know they could fuck up the capitol with artillery pretty badly but is an actual victory even possible for them?
How much of a military threat is Best Korea to South Korea? I know they could fuck up the capitol with artillery pretty badly but is an actual victory even possible for them?
Not at all and they wouldn't really hurt the Capitol much, but who really knows.
The North would not be able to make a land invasion, it would be impossible, all they could do is artillery, although chemical weapons and all that could pose a pretty big threat.
I wonder what percentage of people living in NK see through the bullshit and generally want change but can't do anything about it. They can't all have fallen for the 'dear leader' nonsense.
The government controls all information in that country. These people literally don't have access to any other viewpoints other than the ones espoused by the government. There is no dissident movement.
Maybe a handful of people see through the bullshit. But North Korea is probably the most totalitarian and brainwashed society in human history.
This. Christopher Hitchens, by hook or by crook, managed to bluff his way into the country and has spoken about his experiences in North Korea. He didn't want to resort to the tired cliche of calling it 1984, but in the end he gave in; there really was no better metaphor available for the state of affairs there.
I'm inclined to think that the casualties caused by an invasion or North Korea now would be far better than the casualties caused by a DPRK nuke five years from now.
No matter how crazy people think KJI is I doubt he would actually use a nuke against South Korea or Japan. I can't imagine that he is insane enough to not realize the consequences of attacking another country with a nuke. I think the nuclear facility is a bunch of saber rattling. Look at Saddam; he admitted that he tried to make other people think he had nerve gas and other such weapons when he really did not have them. This was done to make his country look stronger and more powerful.
Plus I would assume Mr. Power hungry KJI likes his power and would not want to lose it by provoking the rest of the world with an actual nuclear attack.
CommunistCow on
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
How much of a military threat is Best Korea to South Korea? I know they could fuck up the capitol with artillery pretty badly but is an actual victory even possible for them?
Not at all and they wouldn't really hurt the Capitol much, but who really knows.
The North would not be able to make a land invasion, it would be impossible, all they could do is artillery, although chemical weapons and all that could pose a pretty big threat.
Basically the analysis I've seen is that if they wanted to hit Seoul, they'd have to stick their artillery in a small, very exposed region of the DMZ, and it would be taken out from ground forces across the DMZ minutes after firing the first shot
This makes perfect sense. If the regime in North Korea goes bye-bye, China is looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of North Koreans streaming across the border. They're malnourished and woefully unprepared to do much of anything except praise their Dear Leader. I can guarantee you that China absolutely does not want that headache. It would be a humanitarian disaster on an almost-unthinkable scale.
Brian888 on
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I stick to the opinion that always resurfaces a few days after these attacks: the Koreas are not going to duke it out, ever.
North Korea does not have the power (military or otherwise) nor the allies to destroy South Korea without assuring their own destruction as well. Even if Kim Jong Il pushes the big red button and launches everything he's got at South Korea he would only destroy his enemy and not conquer any territory.
South Korea is not interested in conquering North Korea. They would like the threat to their people to go away, but if they were to conquer the North, they would be obliged to provide food, shelter and development aid to the North Koreans, this would cost billions of dollars they would much rather spend on developing their own economy.
If this does lead to anything more than fisticuffs and leaked footage of KJI executing a guy dressed up as a general claiming someone went rogue I'll be highly surprised.
This makes perfect sense. If the regime in North Korea goes bye-bye, China is looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of North Koreans streaming across the border. They're malnourished and woefully unprepared to do much of anything except praise their Dear Leader. I can guarantee you that China absolutely does not want that headache. It would be a humanitarian disaster on an almost-unthinkable scale.
Boo hoo on China and South Korea. I guess Wen Jiabao or whoever would just have to nut up and get some humanitarian assistance. I'm not impressed with appeals to a much more acute but temporary "crisis", when there's already a pretty fucking persistant crisis.
This makes perfect sense. If the regime in North Korea goes bye-bye, China is looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of North Koreans streaming across the border. They're malnourished and woefully unprepared to do much of anything except praise their Dear Leader. I can guarantee you that China absolutely does not want that headache. It would be a humanitarian disaster on an almost-unthinkable scale.
Boo hoo on China and South Korea. I guess Wen Jiabao or whoever would just have to nut up and get some humanitarian assistance. I'm not impressed with appeals to a much more acute but temporary "crisis", when there's already a pretty fucking persistant crisis.
Hence China having a vested interest in things not going sideways on the Korean peninsula. They don't want the North Korean population to become their problem.
I'm inclined to think that the casualties caused by an invasion or North Korea now would be far better than the casualties caused by a DPRK nuke five years from now.
No matter how crazy people think KJI is I doubt he would actually use a nuke against South Korea or Japan. I can't imagine that he is insane enough to not realize the consequences of attacking another country with a nuke. I think the nuclear facility is a bunch of saber rattling. Look at Saddam; he admitted that he tried to make other people think he had nerve gas and other such weapons when he really did not have them. This was done to make his country look stronger and more powerful.
Plus I would assume Mr. Power hungry KJI likes his power and would not want to lose it by provoking the rest of the world with an actual nuclear attack.
For some reason I still imagine Kimmy Kong nuking the whole planet while launching his own shuttle into space and live off the remnants of satellite communication and dried gourmet ramen
I'm inclined to think that the casualties caused by an invasion or North Korea now would be far better than the casualties caused by a DPRK nuke five years from now.
No matter how crazy people think KJI is I doubt he would actually use a nuke against South Korea or Japan. I can't imagine that he is insane enough to not realize the consequences of attacking another country with a nuke. I think the nuclear facility is a bunch of saber rattling. Look at Saddam; he admitted that he tried to make other people think he had nerve gas and other such weapons when he really did not have them. This was done to make his country look stronger and more powerful.
Plus I would assume Mr. Power hungry KJI likes his power and would not want to lose it by provoking the rest of the world with an actual nuclear attack.
For some reason I still imagine Kimmy Kong nuking the whole planet while launching his own shuttle into space and live off the remnants of satellite communication and dried gourmet ramen
Pfff... really, i can't let THAT slip without a comment. Saddam was certainly not my favourite kind of guy, but the whole war down there started because the CIA claimed to have sattelite photos of WMD. Saddam denied this and opened the country to western inspectors. They never found anything. They didn't because he HAD NONE. He was speaking the truth.
In retrospect people always say he was an evil dictator who had to be removed. But that was never the reason for the war. It was never an issue to remove Saddam from power. It was about WMD.
Now, in retrospect, i ask you: what COULD he possibly have done to prevent the war?
What are you going to do if you are facing a guy pointing a gun to your head, demanding that you give out the million dollars he claims you have hidden in your pockets as evident by sattelite photos from the CIA, and you DON'T HAVE IT?
Pfff... really, i can't let THAT slip without a comment. Saddam was certainly not my favourite kind of guy, but the whole war down there started because the CIA claimed to have sattelite photos of WMD. Saddam denied this and opened the country to western inspectors. They never found anything. They didn't because he HAD NONE. He was speaking the truth.
In retrospect people always say he was an evil dictator who had to be removed. But that was never the reason for the war. It was never an issue to remove Saddam from power. It was about WMD.
Now, in retrospect, i ask you: what COULD he possibly have done to prevent the war?
What are you going to do if you are facing a guy pointing a gun to your head, demanding that you give out the million dollars he claims you have hidden in your pockets as evident by sattelite photos from the CIA, and you DON'T HAVE IT?
Saddam Hussein feared Iran's arsenal more than a U.S. attack, and even considered asking ex-President George W. Bush "to protect" Iraq from its neighbor, once secret FBI files show.
The FBI interrogations of the toppled tyrant - codename "Desert Spider" - were declassified after a Freedom of Information Act request.
The records show Saddam happily boasted of duping the world about stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. And he consistently denied cooperating with Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda.
I'm inclined to think that the casualties caused by an invasion or North Korea now would be far better than the casualties caused by a DPRK nuke five years from now.
No matter how crazy people think KJI is I doubt he would actually use a nuke against South Korea or Japan. I can't imagine that he is insane enough to not realize the consequences of attacking another country with a nuke. I think the nuclear facility is a bunch of saber rattling. Look at Saddam; he admitted that he tried to make other people think he had nerve gas and other such weapons when he really did not have them. This was done to make his country look stronger and more powerful.
Plus I would assume Mr. Power hungry KJI likes his power and would not want to lose it by provoking the rest of the world with an actual nuclear attack.
For some reason I still imagine Kimmy Kong nuking the whole planet while launching his own shuttle into space and live off the remnants of satellite communication and dried gourmet ramen
Pfff... really, i can't let THAT slip without a comment. Saddam was certainly not my favourite kind of guy, but the whole war down there started because the CIA claimed to have sattelite photos of WMD. Saddam denied this and opened the country to western inspectors. They never found anything. They didn't because he HAD NONE. He was speaking the truth.
In retrospect people always say he was an evil dictator who had to be removed. But that was never the reason for the war. It was never an issue to remove Saddam from power. It was about WMD.
Now, in retrospect, i ask you: what COULD he possibly have done to prevent the war?
What are you going to do if you are facing a guy pointing a gun to your head, demanding that you give out the million dollars he claims you have hidden in your pockets as evident by sattelite photos from the CIA, and you DON'T HAVE IT?
He could have said that he didn't have WMDs, because he kept saying that he did to scare Iran, but this is really off topic.
I would say it's on topic. The Axis of Evil realized that WMDs are the only credible deterrent to keep America at bay. However, they differ in strategy:
1. NK used the traditional path of developing a bomb in secret and then testing it for the world to see. This approach seems to work.
2. Iraq tried nuclear ambiguity (like Israel). "We may or may not have the bomb." This did not work.
3. We don't know yet which game Iran is playing. I'm betting on the NK strategy, but don't have much to back that up.
He could have said that he didn't have WMDs, because he kept saying that he did to scare Iran, but this is really off topic.
He always denied it. He even let inspectors into his country. Not the behaviour of a man claiming he has WMD. I am sorry, but this is ridiculous, no matter what the FBI has on record. After all that became public about how the USA handles political enemies in prison and how most of them end up in mental institutes because of the form of sensory deprivation employed the record its worthless in any case. They showed him in the news, and i remember very well what a wreck he was after his capture: shaking, barely able to walk on his own.
Posts
Bombs are smarter, soldiers are just as stupid as ever.
Why would they need to enrich uranium when they have cold fusion?
I think that the dear leader can enrich uranium with the power of his mind.
those plants are just for show, to fool the west.
You mean opening the borders and embracing the hated American and the savage Japanese? Unthinkable!
From the few TV documentaries I've seen, NK Joe has been taught his whole life to blame foreign powers for all the troubles he's facing in his daily life. That his country could be invaded any day and it's only the NK military keeping foreign aggressors from forcing him to work in the salt mines. While we Westerners might be able to see through this bullshit, I don't think a person who has been hearing it all their life can question it.
The official rates tend to hover at 0.
The official rates are, for obvious reasons, not particularly reliable, so we don't really know.
Jesus wept North Korea.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Goddamnit that's what the ham sandwiches wrapped in pamphlets are for. And I don't want to hear anything about 'contraband' because you have to drop them like leaves in autumn.
I have my doubts about the effectiveness of air-dropped propaganda. "Hmm, I've heard all my life that the evil Americans and the Japanese are to blame for our problems. But these mysterious pamphlets from the sky say otherwise. And hey, look, free sandwich! I guess my country is a corrupt mess that can't produce something as delicious as this ham sandwich."
I guess what I'm saying is, the sandwiches should be pretty damn good to get through decades of brainwashing. Pulled pork, perhaps.
That seems expensive. What about McRibs?
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Things are so bad, they're eating anything that grows or crawls right now.
It's hard to mass produce high quality pulled pork, but I'm sure there are vast cavernous storehouses of the ingredients that go into ham & egg mcmuffins. They've probably been there since the 80's and just as 'fresh' as the day they were made. The initial saturation (no pun intended) is key, then worry about nutrition once the regime falls.
Edit: We will not concede our limited supply of McRibs.
But then the regime tells everyone that the food and pamphlets are poisoned and it's more evidence of the foreigners trying to kill them. Anyone found eating a sandwich is a traitor and must be shot.
What you have to do is fire the ham directly into the mouths of the Best Koreans. We surely have the technology.
That's the point of them being ankle-deep.
The best in the world probably, there is so much air power concetrated in that region they could level the country in 24 hours, easily.
The problem isn't bombing them. The problem is the number of long range cannons pointed at South Korea that would go off before we could stop them all.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
It would depend on the totalitarian state. As unpopular as it sounds, you can compare it to asking, "How is crime in the free world?" It varies enormously.
In North Korea, it still depends on what type of crime you're talking about. A few years back, western estimations were that violent crime was by all standards low. It may have changed since then.
Korea is such a turtler
wtf is this shit
Sure. I'm just saying that all the data we have is pretty suspect by definition. It's not like Gallup can run an NCVS analogue in North Korea or Libya or Zaire or whatever.
Not at all and they wouldn't really hurt the Capitol much, but who really knows.
The North would not be able to make a land invasion, it would be impossible, all they could do is artillery, although chemical weapons and all that could pose a pretty big threat.
This. Christopher Hitchens, by hook or by crook, managed to bluff his way into the country and has spoken about his experiences in North Korea. He didn't want to resort to the tired cliche of calling it 1984, but in the end he gave in; there really was no better metaphor available for the state of affairs there.
No matter how crazy people think KJI is I doubt he would actually use a nuke against South Korea or Japan. I can't imagine that he is insane enough to not realize the consequences of attacking another country with a nuke. I think the nuclear facility is a bunch of saber rattling. Look at Saddam; he admitted that he tried to make other people think he had nerve gas and other such weapons when he really did not have them. This was done to make his country look stronger and more powerful.
Plus I would assume Mr. Power hungry KJI likes his power and would not want to lose it by provoking the rest of the world with an actual nuclear attack.
Basically the analysis I've seen is that if they wanted to hit Seoul, they'd have to stick their artillery in a small, very exposed region of the DMZ, and it would be taken out from ground forces across the DMZ minutes after firing the first shot
This makes perfect sense. If the regime in North Korea goes bye-bye, China is looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of North Koreans streaming across the border. They're malnourished and woefully unprepared to do much of anything except praise their Dear Leader. I can guarantee you that China absolutely does not want that headache. It would be a humanitarian disaster on an almost-unthinkable scale.
Where did you find this? Its pretty rad.
North Korea does not have the power (military or otherwise) nor the allies to destroy South Korea without assuring their own destruction as well. Even if Kim Jong Il pushes the big red button and launches everything he's got at South Korea he would only destroy his enemy and not conquer any territory.
South Korea is not interested in conquering North Korea. They would like the threat to their people to go away, but if they were to conquer the North, they would be obliged to provide food, shelter and development aid to the North Koreans, this would cost billions of dollars they would much rather spend on developing their own economy.
If this does lead to anything more than fisticuffs and leaked footage of KJI executing a guy dressed up as a general claiming someone went rogue I'll be highly surprised.
Boo hoo on China and South Korea. I guess Wen Jiabao or whoever would just have to nut up and get some humanitarian assistance. I'm not impressed with appeals to a much more acute but temporary "crisis", when there's already a pretty fucking persistant crisis.
don't worry, china will defeat them with their superior macro
Hence China having a vested interest in things not going sideways on the Korean peninsula. They don't want the North Korean population to become their problem.
For some reason I still imagine Kimmy Kong nuking the whole planet while launching his own shuttle into space and live off the remnants of satellite communication and dried gourmet ramen
Pfff... really, i can't let THAT slip without a comment. Saddam was certainly not my favourite kind of guy, but the whole war down there started because the CIA claimed to have sattelite photos of WMD. Saddam denied this and opened the country to western inspectors. They never found anything. They didn't because he HAD NONE. He was speaking the truth.
In retrospect people always say he was an evil dictator who had to be removed. But that was never the reason for the war. It was never an issue to remove Saddam from power. It was about WMD.
Now, in retrospect, i ask you: what COULD he possibly have done to prevent the war?
What are you going to do if you are facing a guy pointing a gun to your head, demanding that you give out the million dollars he claims you have hidden in your pockets as evident by sattelite photos from the CIA, and you DON'T HAVE IT?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/06/24/2009-06-24_former_iraqi_leader_saddam_hussein_feared_iran_more_than_us_secret_fbi_files_sho.html#ixzz0JSXqYAJ1&D
1. NK used the traditional path of developing a bomb in secret and then testing it for the world to see. This approach seems to work.
2. Iraq tried nuclear ambiguity (like Israel). "We may or may not have the bomb." This did not work.
3. We don't know yet which game Iran is playing. I'm betting on the NK strategy, but don't have much to back that up.
He always denied it. He even let inspectors into his country. Not the behaviour of a man claiming he has WMD. I am sorry, but this is ridiculous, no matter what the FBI has on record. After all that became public about how the USA handles political enemies in prison and how most of them end up in mental institutes because of the form of sensory deprivation employed the record its worthless in any case. They showed him in the news, and i remember very well what a wreck he was after his capture: shaking, barely able to walk on his own.