Threat from the DPRK (North Korea)

[pbrower2a]

(10-01-2017, 06:50 AM)Mikebert Wrote:

(09-30-2017, 04:35 PM)Kinser79 Wrote:

(09-30-2017, 09:16 AM)Mikebert Wrote: You asserted that North Korea seeks to conquer South Korea, which implies they have the means to do this.  You have not made the case for why NK would have a chance in hell of accomplishing this objective.

They don't unless the US stays out of the conflict, which it is believed likely if the DPRK has nukes, because quantity is a quality all its own.  Tell me which army is more likely to win the battle:  Country A has a corps of 10 000 men armed with the latest weaponry, Country B has a corps of 100 000 men armed with weaponry with 1960s level tech.  Corps B will win provided they have enough bullets because to annihilate the other corps every 10th man has to make a kill, where as Corps A each man has to kill 10 men.  While it is far easier to for A to kill B, B has more numbers and is less likely to suffer sufficient casualties to cause a loss.

Of course anyone who has ever served in the military for any length of time would understand this concept even if their main function as to peel potatoes.

They don't have a 10:1 edge in manpower, more like 2:1. They are numerically inferior in tank number.  All told, the South Korean military matches up pretty similarly to how NATO matched up against the Warsaw Pact. Also the US would necessarily be involved since we have troops in theatre.  If NK started a war it would go ill for them.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccart...edc54828b4

https://www.google.com/search?q=nato+vs+...cIJudGdkQM:

I have seen plenty of images of South Korea. Except for the Hangul writing and that the people do not look European, South Korea looks as if it might be a part of western Europe. North Korea looks like a Hell-hole of the Third World except in its showcase Pyongyang. North Korea lacks the mobility necessary for a swift conquest of the South.

A Northern occupation of South Korea would not go well. As is typical of a developed country, South Korea has lots of motor vehicles. public and private. DPRK troops would have cause to fear vehicle bombs at every turn. If you thought Iraq and Afghanistan bad places to be an American soldier, wait till you see South Korea for a North Korean.

It's telling that South Korea can typically turn a North Korean infiltrator in two days. The first day of captivity is intense interrogation. The second day is a guided tour of a South Korean supermarket.

North Korean infrastructure is well described as primitive. A well-developed country has plenty of redundancy in its roads, pipelines, power lines, and communications network. Well-guided air strikes can ensure the destruction of command-and-control systems and break down logistics.