I think the NK army does not have a strong moral nor good equipment. They don't have a good army to invade a country. They can only attack via missiles, and those missiles are highly unstable. Also I think we have pretty accurate information about their unclear capability. You can never know what they hide but to hide a nuclear project of this size would be nearly impossible. So I think they are right in their estimations that at best they could have produced atomic bombs all of which are of inferior quality. Even that is dangerous but then you have to consider something else: They DO face nuclear retaliation. In the event of a nuclear threat (when for example NK nukes a japanese city) public opinion will turn in favor of retaliation. I doubt the ones in power are suicidal enough to risk that.

> It wouldn't be a world war, because N. Korea has no support from
> any major world power.  For it to be a world war, there would have
> to be conflicts between two sets of world powers, if not superpowers,
> and N. Korea a superpower it is not.

Who says that the super powers must be on both sides?

EVERYONE will be effected to a massive degree. World war.

Little Paul you are greatly mistaken.

N. Korea over the early years of the armistice made a series of tunnel embedded as well as simply dug into mountain side artillery and rocket bases (ground to ground rockets) which are extremely heavily fortified.

Those tubes are all pointed at the civilians in Seoul.

Estimates are millions dead in the first day. Yes I said millions.

Then N. Korea has built up it's factories to produce tanks, aircraft, missiles, and the likes. It may be 70's tech, but it is the best of 70's tech, and to use an old maxim, "Quantity has a Quality of it's own".

North Korea lives up to this maxim, they have more small arms than is needed to arm 100% of their population. In addition they are either 3rd or 2nd in total tanks in the world. In fact it's noted they can outproduce Russia in tanks at a given moment.

Further in of fact 100% of the able population is considered to be a part of their military, yes a 100% draft rate. You do not get out of this without serious injury or old age.

N. Korea is one of a number of nations able and willing to produce their own submarines. They also have a complex anti-air rocket system and anti-tank ordnance system. Further complicating the scene is their hovercraft production facilities.

They have hundreds of small 10 man transport aircraft, of other naval transport craft, and a large and effective coastal defense force.

If you thought Iraq was strong before desert storm, you need to reasses the situation, in total.

Would the United States win versus N. Korea? Yes we would.

Will we get off with less than 5,000 casualties and walk into their capital city in less than 100 days? No chance in hell.

> He's already said the armistice is over, I say we bomb his country back to the stone
> age and let Russia and China feed the masses  they can't even if they tried, which will
> be instructive to Asia.

Russia wont feed them, and China probably couldn't even if it wanted to. There are several
ways this could go bad for China too so it will be interesting to see what action they take:
- They don't want a war on their door step.
- They don't want an arms race on their door step.
- They don't want a refugee crisis on their massive border with North Korea.

> In addition they are either 3rd or 2nd in total tanks in the world. In fact it's noted they can
> outproduce Russia in tanks at a given moment.

I understand the reasons behind your exaggerations, but this is simply wrong factually.

> N. Korea is one of a number of nations able and willing to produce their own submarines. They
> also have a complex anti-air rocket system and anti-tank ordnance system. Further complicating
> the scene is their hovercraft production facilities.

The first point isn't really that relevant (it implies motive not means), the second is also misleading. I
doubt they have any real defensive capabilities (apart from the offensive defense ).

The final point is magical, irrelevant, and straight out of a bond movie. lol.

> If you thought Iraq was strong before desert storm, you need to reasses the situation, in total.

No one thinks that. Iraq was a complete mess before desert storm, it just had a few numbers. North Korea is
right now in a *much* better position militarily then Iraq was or ever could have been.

> Would the United States win versus N. Korea? Yes we would.

No shit .

But as time goes on North Korea will work on both its long-range ICBM technology, and its atomic weapons
technology. Eventually it will put them together, and point 10-15 of them at the U.S. west coast. In response
the U.S. might setup a proper anti-ICBM system targeting the specific threat of these missiles but even if
one plutonium based ICBM hits its target it could cause a mass disaster.

Yes, i'm reading the same article flint. But like it states, "All nations keep their military capability secret.
North Korea is no exception and it is not easy to assess North Korea's military power.".

So these numbers really mean nothing.

And this is besides the point...your not really arguing any point here.

Einstein,
I doubt their army is willing to fight. The leaders might, but the normal soldier would revolt. They do not eat 3k cal potato a day.

Also you forget the large army of south Korea. Their moral is much higher, their weapons are superior to those of NK. Their air capability to name something might be lower in numbers but much better in reality.

All in all I think a precise air strike IF (and only if) the position of the targets are known is the best solution and will be without consequence.

"If you thought Iraq was strong before desert storm, you need to reasses the situation, in total."

Was there really a person who actually thought that?

Also, North Korea is a nation with many problems. I think a war would only do one thing: reunify the people behind the regime..

How?

Hes talking about this article Fokker:

http://www.rense.com/general37/nkorr.htm

http://www.onekorea.org/research/030419.html

@wfs:
I believe the opposite. The only reason it doesn't fall apart right away is brute force and oppression. I bet there's a lot of NK soldiers willing to trade their gun -or their many- in exchange for a passport at first opportunity.

> I bet there's a lot of NK soldiers willing to trade their gun -or their many- in
> exchange for a passport at first opportunity.

Do remember this regime has, although under a different leader, been active for
over 50 years. Most soldiers would only know the life of a dedicated North Korean
soldier...

They don't exactly have TiVo or the internet to see what the rest of the world has,
or how unfair they are being treated.