North Korea/South Korea

[EtherealN]

No, it was a revenge action for a previous skirmish where SK came out on top (though in that skirmish the NK vessel did not actually sink). NK leadership do do stuff like that. Crossref with the assassination of the SK consul for the russian far east.

 

People who stare too much at the "who benefits" stuff end up completely missing the point, imo, and end up dreaming themselves into a conspiracy wonderland. :P

[topol-m]

Topol-m, by what I am seeing he is just suspecting black ops by US to undermine Japanese tries to get rid of US bases from Japanese soil.

 

Naah, that`s too much into the conspiracies theories. Not that it is impossible but highly unlikely IMO. BTW Japan is perfectly capable of defending itself from some hypothetical NK attack. So these opinions about the need of US protecting it are a temporary thing I guess.

[Shaman]

Do we have any South Koreans on these forums so they can update us how the situation is developing and what is their point of view?

[SAM77]

thanks shamandgg...

 

@ Topol M =>>>> never meant to imply Japan couldnt handle N Korea by itself (US presence and expansion)

 

Hey I aint livin in wonderland :P

 

I qualified it by saying if the evidence (N K torpedo) is fake/dodgy etc....

 

I have no proof just pretending to be a nutcase.

 

btw is it true SK has stopped trade with NK because of incident????

[EtherealN]

Yes. That's not a huge amount of trade though, really. :P

[Lucas_From_Hell]

Not only trade, but communications as well.

 

Well, as NK says it's a communist country and doesn't like those "capitalist pigs", I don't see why they should worry :P

[Shaman]

Yeah, kids with 3 arms and 4 legs :D I like that :thumbup:

 

Hehe... I have got to repost this... http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=695901&postcount=6 :D

[topol-m]

:lol: I remember when I first saw your post... seeing it again now brings back the same reaction :megalol:

[mikoyan]

This is my hones opinion; so please don't say I'm wrong; it is just my opinion:

If I were a superhero I would destroy the North Korean regimen; but the trouble is that I would be considered a criminal by the North Korean people because the amount of indoctrination, the block form the western world completely blind their eyes. The only true they know is what that guy Kim whatever says. Sadly the few North Koreans that hate the regimen are too scared to revel; or they already left the country. Let the people destroy its own dictators; that is how it should be; if they are unable to do it by themselves it means that the don't want to be free.

[Maximus_G]

if they are unable to do it by themselves it means that the don't want to be free.

Actually they could be quite happy with it. That's the problem.

[EtherealN]

This is my hones opinion; so please don't say I'm wrong; it is just my opinion:

 

[...]

 

Let the people destroy its own dictators; that is how it should be; if they are unable to do it by themselves it means that the don't want to be free.

 

Sorry, but the amount of north koreans who die, shot by north korean border guards, when trying to leave the contry says that you are wrong, opinion or not. ;) And the north korean people do actually have access to the outside - if they have a black market TV or Radio that can pick up southern, chinese or russian broadcasts. Sadly, it doesn't end nicely if and when they're caught with that equipment.

 

Being unable to topple a regime doesn't mean you don't want to be free. It means the regime has bigger guns. ;)

 

(Incidentally that was the motivation the americans had when they originally made the right to own and carry arms a part of their constitution; the idea being that you cannot build an oppressive regime if the official that tries to institute said regime is liable to get mobbed by 300 million people waving M16's around.)

 

But this is a digression: topic is North/South relations.

[Mustang]

North Korean Cartoon :D

 

[Achernar]

North Koren War

 

If the North attacks and they make it into Seoul, the troops will have all the food and resources they need. Not to mention i'm sure they would send food to the North.

 

While casulties would be high for the North, i'm not sure South Koren defenses would be able to handle being attacked by 10,000,000 North Koren Solders.

[EtherealN]

Numbers don't work in a linear fasion though. The absolute majority of north korean equipment is quite obsolete, and the "10 million" figure you are using includes reserve personnel. Mobilising that many people undetected would be impossible, and the DPRK air force would be incapable of protecting the supply lines.

 

As for food and resources - how long do you think an army like that would be able to live off of whatever warehouses are left in Seoul, assuming said warehouses don't get damaged during the fighting? And how are they supposed to send food up north when american stealth planes take out every bridge north of Seoul?

 

Even if the DPRK somehow managed to make a 10-million man suprise attack and bypass the DMZ areas fast enough to pre-empt reinforcements and bombers, there would simply be no way to avoid seeing the entire army wither away in thirst and starvation. The DPRK leaders are aware of this. The technological gap is just too big - you cannot attack a modern army with T-55's and T-62's - especially when the ROK has as many modern tanks as the DPRK has obsolete tanks.

 

They have a slightly better chance on the air side, since their technological inferiority is outweighed by massive numbers, but in an offensive campaign they would have to contend with modern SAM batteries as well as two american wings, and potentially the american air wings stationed in Japan, whatever they fly in, and whichever carrier groups are in convenient distance.

 

In summary, to do a blitz attack you need more than numbers. You need good equipment and good tactics. The one thing I'd say the DPRK has is numbers. After all, the reason why they decided to develop nukes was that it allows them security from attack - they are in a defensive posture.

[Pilotasso]

The whole thing is a hostage situation. The DPRK and the rest of us know it wont be able to sustain a conflict due to obsolete equipment and a crippled economy but everybody knows it can wreck havock before the south or anyone else has time to stop it.

[EtherealN]

Yup. Basically it's a page out of the textbook on how a small country can effectively defend against a large country: just make the price "not worth it".