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Completely inaccurate in terms of South Korean military power. S. Korea has a large, well trained and well equipped military with almost 7000 armored vehicles,

by greedo 10y ago

Completely inaccurate in terms of South Korean military power. S. Korea has a large, well trained and well equipped military with almost 7000 armored vehicles, thousands of artillery systems, a robust air force, and a navy perfectly suited for their requirements. It's even arguable that they could adequately defend themselves against North Korea without US help, as long as China doesn't intervene.

tormeh 10y ago
Yeah, S Korea is the Israel of SEA.
AcerbicZero 10y ago
I believe the point made above was in regards to China. SK's ~1500ish MBT's and ~200ish Gen4 aircraft isn't so "well equipped" or "robust" when put up against the PLA and PLAAF.
- greedo 10y ago
  China roughly outmatches SK by 4:1 across the board, but China has to worry about more than just SK. They have to be concerned about India, Vietnam, Russia, Japan, SK, and of course the US. China has been on an incredible spending spree and upgraded a lot of their equipment, but there not as well trained as other modern militaries. This is changing, but not something that can be done overnight.
  - snowwrestler 10y ago
    If the U.S. withdraws into itself, that will dramatically accelerate all of this. China knows it can't beat the U.S. in a shooting war, but it also knows the U.S.'s #1 interest in the region is "no shooting wars." The U.S. wants peaceful stability. China knows that we don't have territorial ambitions in Asia. Lots of other countries do though.
woobar 10y ago
North Korea could destroy Seoul without even crossing the border. And they are better prepared for defense. And who will stop China from intervening if US is out of the picture?
- greedo 10y ago
  NK is starving, equipped with ancient hardware, and without adequate fuel for training. The one thing they have is artillery, which can do an incredible amount of damage to SK. So you think the current token US force in SK can stop China if it decides to intervene? That force just acts as a nuclear tripwire; it doesn't need to be larger to act in that fashion.

by greedo 10y ago

tormeh 10y ago

Yeah, S Korea is the Israel of SEA.

AcerbicZero 10y ago

I believe the point made above was in regards to China. SK's ~1500ish MBT's and ~200ish Gen4 aircraft isn't so "well equipped" or "robust" when put up against the PLA and PLAAF.

greedo 10y ago
China roughly outmatches SK by 4:1 across the board, but China has to worry about more than just SK. They have to be concerned about India, Vietnam, Russia, Japan, SK, and of course the US. China has been on an incredible spending spree and upgraded a lot of their equipment, but there not as well trained as other modern militaries. This is changing, but not something that can be done overnight.
- snowwrestler 10y ago
  If the U.S. withdraws into itself, that will dramatically accelerate all of this. China knows it can't beat the U.S. in a shooting war, but it also knows the U.S.'s #1 interest in the region is "no shooting wars." The U.S. wants peaceful stability. China knows that we don't have territorial ambitions in Asia. Lots of other countries do though.

woobar 10y ago

North Korea could destroy Seoul without even crossing the border. And they are better prepared for defense. And who will stop China from intervening if US is out of the picture?

greedo 10y ago
NK is starving, equipped with ancient hardware, and without adequate fuel for training. The one thing they have is artillery, which can do an incredible amount of damage to SK. So you think the current token US force in SK can stop China if it decides to intervene? That force just acts as a nuclear tripwire; it doesn't need to be larger to act in that fashion.