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When the entire population is living in such complete misery, I don't really think that a guerrilla war would happen. The North Koreans aren't religious fanatic

by viggity 16y ago

When the entire population is living in such complete misery, I don't really think that a guerrilla war would happen. The North Koreans aren't religious fanatics with some "higher cause" that would motivate them into a protracted insurgency. A war-mongering NYT article? That is a contradiction in terms. The only reason we haven't invaded is because China is protecting North Korea, and they're only really doing that because they don't want a massive flood of refugees into their country.

weavejester 16y ago
"The North Koreans aren't religious fanatics with some "higher cause" that would motivate them into a protracted insurgency." No, but the North Korea regime is based upon fanatic nationalism, which isn't really that different.
- jpcx01 16y ago
  Korean nationalism. South Korea's army would be the "occupying country" so I really doubt this would cause an insurgency as severe as the ones in Afghanistan or Iraq.
InclinedPlane 16y ago
I think this is a naive reading. The population may rejoice, but that doesn't mean there won't be "dead-enders" from the regime who would engage in a guerrilla war. There is a cadre of numerous North Korean special and irregular forces who are dedicated to the regime (through brain-washing or for their own reasons) who have been trained with guerrilla fighting and terrorism skills. Read about Korean Air Flight 858 and Kim Hyon Hui, and imagine how many more agents of that sort North Korea has in reserve, and how much damage they could do before they were stopped. But all of this is a side show. The real reason North Korea has not been invaded is because the Seoul metro-area holds 24 million South Korean citizens, and most of it is extremely vulnerable to potential artillery bombardment from North Korea. Realistically the North Koreans could kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of South Koreans in no more than a day of shelling if war broke out on the peninsula. The only way for the south to effectively wage war would be to completely evacuate Seoul as a prelude, and that action alone would probably trigger a war before the evacuation was complete. This, of course, doesn't even begin to factor in nuclear weapons. The Korean peninsula is a long, ongoing hostage situation. North Korea holds its own population hostage as well as much of South Korea. This is why so little progress has been made on getting rid of the North Korean regime, there are only bad options and even worse options at this point.

by viggity 16y ago

weavejester 16y ago

"The North Koreans aren't religious fanatics with some "higher cause" that would motivate them into a protracted insurgency." No, but the North Korea regime is based upon fanatic nationalism, which isn't really that different.

jpcx01 16y ago
Korean nationalism. South Korea's army would be the "occupying country" so I really doubt this would cause an insurgency as severe as the ones in Afghanistan or Iraq.

InclinedPlane 16y ago

I think this is a naive reading. The population may rejoice, but that doesn't mean there won't be "dead-enders" from the regime who would engage in a guerrilla war. There is a cadre of numerous North Korean special and irregular forces who are dedicated to the regime (through brain-washing or for their own reasons) who have been trained with guerrilla fighting and terrorism skills. Read about Korean Air Flight 858 and Kim Hyon Hui, and imagine how many more agents of that sort North Korea has in reserve, and how much damage they could do before they were stopped. But all of this is a side show. The real reason North Korea has not been invaded is because the Seoul metro-area holds 24 million South Korean citizens, and most of it is extremely vulnerable to potential artillery bombardment from North Korea. Realistically the North Koreans could kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of South Koreans in no more than a day of shelling if war broke out on the peninsula. The only way for the south to effectively wage war would be to completely evacuate Seoul as a prelude, and that action alone would probably trigger a war before the evacuation was complete. This, of course, doesn't even begin to factor in nuclear weapons. The Korean peninsula is a long, ongoing hostage situation. North Korea holds its own population hostage as well as much of South Korea. This is why so little progress has been made on getting rid of the North Korean regime, there are only bad options and even worse options at this point.