Korean War 2

[MichaeltheGreat]

South Korea is no slouch. Wouldn't their government make defending Seoul a priority? Seoul is pretty close to the border, but the North would still need very big guns to hit it. Big, easy to detect guns, that can only be in a certain area along the DMZ. I can't imagine that the North Korean bombardment of the capital would last very long. It would certainly get some shots off, but I bet there's more to the South's defenses than we're told.

They're dug in through tunnels from the northwest side of the mountains. Counterbattery arty won't do ****, the Air Farce will have to actually earn their pay for once and show there's a reason they have all those bright shiny toys. Trouble is, that takes time. There's no way for the DPRK to win, or sustain a conflict, but the real damage is going to be civilian casualties then the financial markets.

I have no doubt the ROKs can stop major ground penetration, but the DRPK SOFs will be a pain in the ass - think Einheits Stielau times a thousand, with a fanatical "do damage to the death" mindset.

[Sava]

We now have anti-artillery weapons actually capable of intercepting rockets, artillery shells and even mortar shells in the air.

waht about sharks with fricken lasers?

[The Mad Monk]

Sharks are less effective than you might think in the air.

[kentonio]

That's just what they want you to think.

[onodera]

What about a preemptive strike? Airdrop en masse into Pyongyang (airdrop some rice too so the locals will be too busy), storm the presidential palace and the military HQ, let ROK invade and secure the border territories around Seoul.

[Sava]

What about a preemptive strike? Airdrop en masse into Pyongyang (airdrop some rice too so the locals will be too busy), storm the presidential palace and the military HQ, let ROK invade and secure the border territories around Seoul.

best to just level the country and build over the rubble

[The Mad Monk]

As annoyed as the Chinese are, I don't think they're that annoyed.

[Sava]

As annoyed as the Chinese are, I don't think they're that annoyed.

I don't even think China would notice. They can't see more than a quarter mile with all the smog in their cities.

[The Mad Monk]

China is massing forces on the North Korean border. Now, they may be bottling up potential refugees or sending Kim a message, but nobody on this side of the DMZ is going to forget MacArthur's mistake anytime soon.

[Sava]

They probably are more worried about an influx of refugees. I bet the Chinese Army would just assume massacre all those people if they tried to cross the border.

[Dr Strangelove]

So? Hardly a blink. When you're dealing with a drunk at a bar who's in your face with something to prove, sometimes it actually makes sense not to flap your yap back at him, or at least do it in a different way. Especially when you don't know him. Getting into more of a dick size contest with Lil Kim could get real expensive for a lot of people. Especially WSJ subscribers if the global markets take a **** over some incident or another.

Also it's not Christian for normal sized folks to get into tussles with little people like Lil Kim.
And I'm sure his dick is sized proportionately so what wouldd be the point?

[PLATO]

China is massing forces on the North Korean border. Now, they may be bottling up potential refugees or sending Kim a message, but nobody on this side of the DMZ is going to forget MacArthur's mistake anytime soon.

Do you have a link to this?

[kentonio]

Nm

[Dr Strangelove]

waht about sharks with fricken lasers?

The systems are said to be pretty efective, they're in use in Iraq and Afghanistan protecting major bases from mortar attacks. They're based around the Phalanx anti-missle system deployed on aircraft carriers. One problem with using them to protect against artillery attacks from North Korea is their limited range. Also I don't know how well the sytem would cope with an intense artillery barrage.

[The Mad Monk]

Role of China

Though most observers still believe this will remain a rhetorical rather than a physical battle, the volatility of the situation contains possibility of a slight miscalculation turning into a rapid escalation. This makes the great powers worry. Both China and Russia have appealed all sides to cooperate to prevent the situation worsening. While China’s Foreign Ministry has called for restraint, Russia was more explicit, with its foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov, saying that he is concerned about the situation that could “get out of control”, which could descend into the spiral of a vicious cycle. China’s role in restraining Pyongyang remains crucial.
Though China calls for restraint, it is unlikely to abandon its ally in the event of a conflict breaking out. China will be immediately drawn into the conflict, which means worsening relations with the US. China is no less a bully than North Korea, with its aggressive posture in many regional hotspots. Its long term goal is to emerge the No. 1 power in the world, beating the US into second place. China has already started mobilizing military forces around the Korean peninsula on the border with the North. The People’s Liberation Army is now at ‘Level One’ readiness, its highest.

Chinese forces, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers, are moving around the city of Ji’an and near the Yalu River, which splits China and North Korea. China has also been conducting live-firing naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, which is viewed as open support for North Korea. China and North Korea have maintained a long-standing defense treaty under which Beijing is to come to Pyongyang’s aid in the event of an attack. The relationship between the countries is often referred to as being “as close as lips and teeth”. There is also a view in some circle in China that it is displeased with Pyongyang’s latest aggressive relationship with Seoul and Washington and therefore tolerates US presence in the region which helps restrain the unpredictable Kim Jong-un to some extent. This, it is argued, is the real reason Beijing has not been strong in its criticism of the amassing of US forces in the region. However, this argument is weak as Beijing’s strategic considerations will weigh much heavily in defining the country’s neighbourhood policy, in which North Korea will remain a crucial element. Another reason for Beijing to continue backing Pyongyang could be the fear of a collapse of order in North Korea, which would lead to a large-scale refugee flow into China.

More analysis here.