North Korea just looking for a fight?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/north-korea-threatens-fire-us-south-korean-troops-41688373

It seems like North Korea is just looking for a reason to go to war and I don't get it.

Is it because lil' Kim is stupid and doesn't understand that his country will be completely destroyed or does he think he can actually win with all the problems the United States faces right now with ISIS, Russia, Iran, Europe under attack from terrorist and jackasses running for president?

[GMDino]

(08-27-2016, 12:47 PM)Nebuchadnezzar Wrote: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/north-korea-threatens-fire-us-south-korean-troops-41688373

It seems like North Korea is just looking for a reason to go to war and I don't get it.

Is it because lil' Kim is stupid and doesn't understand that his country will be completely destroyed or does he think he can actually win with all the problems the United States faces right now with ISIS, Russia, Iran, Europe under attack from terrorist and jackasses running for president?

I'd answer yes to all of those questions and statements.

However war is impossible because everyone has armies and guns and (some) have nuclear weapons that we will never use because others have them too.  

[McC]

(08-27-2016, 12:50 PM)GMDino Wrote: I'd answer yes to all of those questions and statements.

However war is impossible because everyone has armies and guns and (some) have nuclear weapons that we will never use because others have them too.  

Wouldn't take nukes to bring that guy down. 

[HarleyDog]

North Korea is like a Chihuahua in a lions den. I don't get it either.

[*Nately120*]

Hmm, a gleeful warhawk leader...Americans can't understand this guy, why now?

[treee]

North Korea is like hapless uncoordinated buffoon trying to box someone at a pacifism conference.

[Bmoreblitz]

They would lose but it wouldn't be as easy as some of you think. There would be so many lives lost.

[treee]

(08-28-2016, 12:18 PM)Bmoreblitz Wrote: They would lose but it wouldn't be as easy as some of you think. There would be so many lives lost.

It depends on the nature of the combat. If it is a land war, there will always be significant casualties. On the other hand we could always turn all of their major cities to rubble in less than 24 hours with a few bombing runs.

[Yojimbo]

His father pulled the same shit for two reasons:

1) It allows him to keep control of his people by "showing" them how "strong" N. Korea is.

2) Antagonize the international community until an agreement is made to not launch missiles and then he gets sanctions relaxed and lots of free food and money.

[treee]

(08-28-2016, 12:34 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: His father pulled the same shit for two reasons:

1) It allows him to keep control of his people by "showing" them how "strong" N. Korea is.

2) Antagonize the international community until an agreement is made to not launch missiles and then he gets sanctions relaxed and lots of free food and money.

Yep, coincidentally every time he pulls these stunts they magically get all kinds of humanitarian aid. It's like giving your dog a treat for shitting on the new rug.

[McC]

(08-28-2016, 12:18 PM)Bmoreblitz Wrote: They would lose but it wouldn't be as easy as some of you think. There would be so many lives lost.

I wonder how hard his people would fight for him.  Might be a lot like Saddam's armies.

[*jason*]

(08-28-2016, 02:01 PM)McC Wrote: I wonder how hard his people would fight for him.  Might be a lot like Saddam's armies.

They fought the US to a standstill... Granted, the Chinese intervened, but the fact remains. I've often heard that they could overrun the South and the few Americans stationed there fairly quickly if they really wanted too. I don't know if that's true. But as others have pointed out, saber rattling is par for the course for a Stalinist regime.

[Yojimbo]

(08-28-2016, 05:32 PM)jason Wrote: They fought the US to a standstill... Granted, the Chinese intervened, but the fact remains. I've often heard that they could overrun the South and the few Americans stationed there fairly quickly if they really wanted too. I don't know if that's true. But as others have pointed out, saber rattling is par for the course for a Stalinist regime.

Here are the sizes of North vs. South military: 

S. Korea 11th most powerful military

N. Korea 25th most powerful military

So the North probably couldn't overrun the South very easily unless China/Russia are involved.

[BigPapaKain]

(08-27-2016, 01:19 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Hmm, a gleeful warhawk leader...Americans can't understand this guy, why now?

Because he speaks Korean.

[mallorian69]

(08-28-2016, 05:32 PM)jason Wrote: They fought the US to a standstill... Granted, the Chinese intervened, but the fact remains. I've often heard that they could overrun the South and the few Americans stationed there fairly quickly if they really wanted too. I don't know if that's true. But as others have pointed out, saber rattling is par for the course for a Stalinist regime.

It's very true. My brother has spent at least half of the last 25 years in Korea either in the army or NGA as a korean interprter. The general concensus is that best case we can hold for 3-7 days with the forces we currently have there and the few we could bring in in that time frame.

We only have around 25k troops there most of the time and of those generally only 5-10k are combat troops. At best we can get another 5k light infantry there in the first 3 days. 

South Korea has over 600k active duty personnel in their military but that is all branches combined. Can't find numbers for just their army. Generally speaking though most militarys combat troops are only 10-20% with the rest being support troops. 

North Korea has nearly 1 million troops most of which are stationed in the southern 1/3 of the country, easy striking distance from the DMZ. They have double the number of tanks and greatly outnumber the combined forces in the south in regards to artillery.

In addition to this we are constantly finding tunnels under the DMZ that they have dug for troop transport. Most are smaller only allowing a platoon or company to move through rapidly but there are some capable of allowing an entire batallion to move through in a matter of minutes. 

They also use small planes that are made mostly of wood and canvas that are nearly undetectable to radar that can carry small special ops teams that can infiltrate the south and take out key communications and infrastructure targets.

The major weekness of the north's military is their logistics. They don't have to food or fuel for a long drawn out campaign.

While we would ultimately win, we would lose the entire Korean peninsula in the first few days of a conventional war and have to retake it.

[Bmoreblitz]

(08-28-2016, 12:27 PM)treee Wrote: It depends on the nature of the combat. If it is a land war, there will always be significant casualties. On the other hand we could always turn all of their major cities to rubble in less than 24 hours with a few bombing runs.

With or without a land war there will be many many casualties just off of the close proximity between the two from the bombardment of artillery alone. 

[Au165]

(08-28-2016, 08:12 PM)mallorian69 Wrote: It's very true. My brother has spent at least half of the last 25 years in Korea either in the army or NGA as a korean interprter. The general concensus is that best case we can hold for 3-7 days with the forces we currently have there and the few we could bring in in that time frame.

We only have around 25k troops there most of the time and of those generally only 5-10k are combat troops. At best we can get another 5k light infantry there in the first 3 days. 

South Korea has over 600k active duty personnel in their military but that is all branches combined. Can't find numbers for just their army. Generally speaking though most militarys combat troops are only 10-20% with the rest being support troops. 

North Korea has nearly 1 million troops most of which are stationed in the southern 1/3 of the country, easy striking distance from the DMZ. They have double the number of tanks and greatly outnumber the combined forces in the south in regards to artillery.

In addition to this we are constantly finding tunnels under the DMZ that they have dug for troop transport. Most are smaller only allowing a platoon or company to move through rapidly but there are some capable of allowing an entire batallion to move through in a matter of minutes. 

They also use small planes that are made mostly of wood and canvas that are nearly undetectable to radar that can carry small special ops teams that can infiltrate the south and take out key communications and infrastructure targets.

The major weekness of the north's military is their logistics. They don't have to food or fuel for a long drawn out campaign.

While we would ultimately win, we would lose the entire Korean peninsula in the first few days of a conventional war and have to retake it.

You are nuts if you think an army not even twice the size and far less trained and equipped can over run a country entrenched in a defensive position in 3-7 days. We have been reviewing our response plan for a rapid respond in case of invasion and they feel confident they can hold. There would be massive casualties on both sides....but they wouldn't take South Korea.

[Bmoreblitz]

(08-29-2016, 12:41 PM)Au165 Wrote: You are nuts if you think an army not even twice the size and far less trained and equipped can over run a country entrenched in a defensive position in 3-7 days. We have been reviewing our response plan for a rapid respond in case of invasion and they feel confident they can hold. There would be massive casualties on both sides....but they wouldn't take South Korea.

Most of our war gaming strategies/planning and simulations predict S Korean and Allied Forces being forced south and eventually fighting/pushing back North. One of the most difficult obstacles is the terrain and lack of MSRs

[Au165]

(08-29-2016, 01:51 PM)Bmoreblitz Wrote: Most of our war gaming strategies/planning and simulations predict S Korean and Allied Forces being forced south and eventually fighting/pushing back North. One of the most difficult obstacles is the terrain and lack of MSRs

Correct, forced south not completely off the peninsula. There is an art to strategically giving ground over time.

[Bmoreblitz]

(08-29-2016, 02:16 PM)Au165 Wrote: Correct, forced south not completely off the peninsula. There is an art to strategically giving ground over time.

Unless China gets involved.

Giving ground strategically or not, the good guys would still lose a lot of lives. And that is not acceptable.