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Chucky
Joined: 21 Apr 2010
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 Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| fergalreid wrote: |
Two indispensable books about North Korea are The Two Koreas by Don Oberdorfer and Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin. Christopher Hitchens wrote a few vituperous articles about North Korea for Slate this year, too.
The average height of a North Korean soldier is somewhere around five feet. They're malnourished, under equipped and trained for the sort of mass-wave attack that went out of style with the Russian Army in WWI. From what I've read, the US/ROK plan is to stall any invasion from crossing the DMZ for a few days, simply because the NK food will run out. They're subsisting on several hundred grams of rice a day and their wartime reserves are regularly tapped.
In the meantime, the Chinese will probably have put a military seal on their border to prevent tens or hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing across the Yalu River and US/ROK warplanes will be flying uncontested sorties over NK airspace. South Korea edged ahead of North Korea in military terms at some point in the 1980s. Their battle plans are believed to be much the same as NATOs in Europe against a conventionally armed Russian invasion. Namely, to bottle up the enemy's superior numbers and annihilate them with superior weapon technology. God knows what the Americans have been selling the Korean military but I bet it's powerful as anything!
Kim Jong-Il might have a huge army of under-equipped peasants but, to be quite honest, my money's on the side with enough food to last more than a week of fighting. I sincerely doubt there's going to be another war. |
I agree with all this.
The one thing that's got me worried is North Korea firing missiles over here.
My Korean friend yesterday was telling me that North Korea says they'll attack with chemical and biological weapons if a war broke out. Pretty nasty stuff, and there's no reason to think they wouldn't do it.
On that note, is there any reason why they wouldn't nuke Seoul? If they decided to do that nobody would be able to stop it. And I doubt they would hold back because there are some international people in the city. Especially in the endgame of the war when they are getting tore up and it's their last resort.
But indeed, the foot soldiers charging South are nothing to worry about. It's the missiles and other foul weapons that worry me. |
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fergalreid
Joined: 02 Apr 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 4:05 am Post subject: |
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| brento1138 wrote: |
Question is: are they a suicide death cult of a nation? Would they all rather die than face the harsh reality that their entire lives have been lies? Answer is yet to be seen... |
The answer is almost certainly yes. Martin has dozens of interviews with defectors and a great many say that North Koreans would look forward to war as a release from their miserable lives, either through conquest or death. |
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fergalreid
Joined: 02 Apr 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 4:09 am Post subject: |
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| Chucky wrote: |
| fergalreid wrote: |
Two indispensable books about North Korea are The Two Koreas by Don Oberdorfer and Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin. Christopher Hitchens wrote a few vituperous articles about North Korea for Slate this year, too.
The average height of a North Korean soldier is somewhere around five feet. They're malnourished, under equipped and trained for the sort of mass-wave attack that went out of style with the Russian Army in WWI. From what I've read, the US/ROK plan is to stall any invasion from crossing the DMZ for a few days, simply because the NK food will run out. They're subsisting on several hundred grams of rice a day and their wartime reserves are regularly tapped.
In the meantime, the Chinese will probably have put a military seal on their border to prevent tens or hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing across the Yalu River and US/ROK warplanes will be flying uncontested sorties over NK airspace. South Korea edged ahead of North Korea in military terms at some point in the 1980s. Their battle plans are believed to be much the same as NATOs in Europe against a conventionally armed Russian invasion. Namely, to bottle up the enemy's superior numbers and annihilate them with superior weapon technology. God knows what the Americans have been selling the Korean military but I bet it's powerful as anything!
Kim Jong-Il might have a huge army of under-equipped peasants but, to be quite honest, my money's on the side with enough food to last more than a week of fighting. I sincerely doubt there's going to be another war. |
I agree with all this.
The one thing that's got me worried is North Korea firing missiles over here.
My Korean friend yesterday was telling me that North Korea says they'll attack with chemical and biological weapons if a war broke out. Pretty nasty stuff, and there's no reason to think they wouldn't do it.
On that note, is there any reason why they wouldn't nuke Seoul? If they decided to do that nobody would be able to stop it. And I doubt they would hold back because there are some international people in the city. Especially in the endgame of the war when they are getting tore up and it's their last resort.
But indeed, the foot soldiers charging South are nothing to worry about. It's the missiles and other foul weapons that worry me. |
I've not moved to SK yet but are there not drills and things pretty regularly?
Yeah, he probably might try an use those kinds of weapons but I'd imagine it all depends on how many sites the US/ROK destroy. Also, does South Korea have missile interceptors like Israel did during the First Gulf War?
North Korea doesn't have a delivery system for its nukes yet. |
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TK421
Joined: 05 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 4:09 am Post subject: |
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| nope you brits are screwed. so long suckers!!! |
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PigeonFart
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 5:20 am Post subject: |
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I live in the center of Seoul, right in the center.
I now wish i lived in Busan! he he |
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Rteacher
Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Western MA, USA
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Janny
Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Location: all over the place
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eljuero
Joined: 11 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 5:52 am Post subject: Too early to worry.... |
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I think it's premature to worry though a co-worker of mine who's poo-pooed the hype of the last few weeks said this week was the most noise she could ever remember.
I'm no military expert but I read somewhere that the most dangerous element to worry about is conventional artillery. There are a lot of conventional artillery pieces in place and some would no doubt get missed in any pre-emptive strike by US and SK. One has to assume that most of the positions in the NK are mapped out by the military (SK and US forces). Remember that the US has continually updated its military hardware and technology while on a functional level NK is decades old and probably poorly maintained. I wouldn't be surprised to see entire NK units heading over the border to China or walking toward the DMZ with their hands up after a few rounds of where-the-hell-did-those-cruise-missiles-come-from moments.....
NK has a horrendous record technologically of launching nukes or even getting tractors to run consistently.
I do think it makes sense to make sure you can transfer your money (sinking value of the WON make make this increasingly irrelevant anyway) but that's probably just common sense.
In the meantime, I'm going to be sharpening my Girls Generation DVD's into ninja throwing stars just in case....... |
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egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:15 am Post subject: |
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To those worrying about nukes:
The Norks have yet to show that they can detonate a nuke anywhere but underground... Nor have they shown that they can make one small enough as to fit it onto a missle that can be launched over the DMZ and into the RoK...
I'd be more worried about the chemical and bio weapons from the 10-15k artillary pieces aimed our way...
For the record... Anyone know if chem/bio weapons are lighter or heavier than air?... Better to hide in the subway system or up in an apartment building?
(If the gas is heavier than air it could sink into the subway system making them cozy little death traps... Vs running the risk of having a shoddy K-apartment fall down around you when it takes a direct hit  ) |
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Xuanzang
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| egrog1717 wrote: |
To those worrying about nukes:
The Norks have yet to show that they can detonate a nuke anywhere but underground... Nor have they shown that they can make one small enough as to fit it onto a missle that can be launched over the DMZ and into the RoK...
I'd be more worried about the chemical and bio weapons from the 10-15k artillary pieces aimed our way...
For the record... Anyone know if chem/bio weapons are lighter or heavier than air?... Better to hide in the subway system or up in an apartment building?
(If the gas is heavier than air it could sink into the subway system making them cozy little death traps... Vs running the risk of having a shoddy K-apartment fall down around you when it takes a direct hit ) |
They're also quite porous. Note all the nooks and crannies that allow mosquitos and dust in. Pick your poison  |
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egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:46 am Post subject: |
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| Xuanzang wrote: |
| egrog1717 wrote: |
To those worrying about nukes:
The Norks have yet to show that they can detonate a nuke anywhere but underground... Nor have they shown that they can make one small enough as to fit it onto a missle that can be launched over the DMZ and into the RoK...
I'd be more worried about the chemical and bio weapons from the 10-15k artillary pieces aimed our way...
For the record... Anyone know if chem/bio weapons are lighter or heavier than air?... Better to hide in the subway system or up in an apartment building?
(If the gas is heavier than air it could sink into the subway system making them cozy little death traps... Vs running the risk of having a shoddy K-apartment fall down around you when it takes a direct hit ) |
They're also quite porous. Note all the nooks and crannies that allow mosquitos and dust in. Pick your poison |
Sorely tempted to snag one of those self-contained breathing rigs they keep with the fire safety gear at the subway station, LOL...
(Though that won't much help if the toxins can absorb on contact with skin... Damn crafty bio-toxins!! ) |
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Dragoon
Joined: 18 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:51 am Post subject: |
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| Damn it'd be nice to get my hands on some firearms..just in case the NK's roll through my 동. I got a 12 inch combat/survival knife in my house but that won't do much against their AK's....maybe I can sneak up on them and slit their throats Metal Gear Style...get their weapons...and show the NK army what this waygook is made of!!! |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:58 am Post subject: |
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| egrog1717 wrote: |
Sorely tempted to snag one of those self-contained breathing rigs they keep with the fire safety gear at the subway station, LOL...
(Though that won't much help if the toxins can absorb on contact with skin... Damn crafty bio-toxins!! ) |
Just crank up the air-con, that'll filter all the nasties out of the air. Oh, and eat kimchi. |
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Jeonmunka
Joined: 05 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 11:07 am Post subject: |
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All the world politicians who have met him [KJI] have said that he's a very rational and intelligent man.
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I would love to read the articles/books on that subject.
I would have thought 'morally challenged' and 'cruel' would be better terms to describe him. |
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fergalreid
Joined: 02 Apr 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 11:16 am Post subject: |
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| Jeonmunka wrote: |
| Quote: |
All the world politicians who have met him [KJI] have said that he's a very rational and intelligent man.
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I would love to read the articles/books on that subject.
I would have thought 'morally challenged' and 'cruel' would be better terms to describe him. |
He doesn't have the mind of his father but from all accounts he is very astute. |
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