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Is our intelligence so poor that we do not know where the top 100 or 1000 leaders of the DKRP are? Is our ability so degraded that we could not execute a blitz

Is our intelligence so poor that we do not know where the top 100 or 1000 leaders of the DKRP are? Is our ability so degraded that we could not execute a blitz strike on all leadership centers within minutes? We have so many assets in the region it isn't even funny. Not to mention the South Koreans. Imho, the only solution is a blitz decapitation. Allowing the petulant DKRP to steer the course of events by violence whenever they feel like it is insanity. Allowing them to enhance their war making capabilities is also insanity. It is as if Canada were belligerent towards the US and would sink our ships and lob artillery at Detroit without regard. All the while building a nuclear weapons stockpile. I do not think the American people would let that stand. On the other hand there has been 60 years or so of cold peace with far less casualties than full blown hostilities would incur. The only problem is that the South has lived under a threat of constant war in that time.

cpearce 16y ago
Why do you think it's so easy to track North Korean officials? Decapitating the leadership in Iraq didn't happen quickly, why would it so much easier in North Korea, a country with far lusher vegetation? Seoul is only 35 miles from the border with North Korea. The North has artillery which can hit Seoul, hence the South needs to be very careful not to provoke the North. Any engagement would be costly.
andymorris 16y ago
Have we seriously learned nothing from Iraq? Take out the leadership, and you are left with a failed country and a population that is likely to be hostile. Next you'll tell me that we'll walk into NK as liberators...
- mbreese 16y ago
  Now, that's not fair. By most measures NK is already a failed country...
  - RomP 16y ago
    It won't make its population any less hostile (and armed) when they find out that their beloved leader has been assassinated by the exact people they've learned to hate for as long as they can remember themselves.
- liuliu 16y ago
  It is not another Iraq. Iraq has a very specific nationality problem between Shi'ya and Sunni, and it is a separate nation from 1920s. People in both side of Korea are connected through blood and family relationship, South Korea have a very strong will to help restore the government/police/economic system in NK. The U.S. wouldn't have got into such bizarre situation as in Iraq.
  - mahmud 16y ago
    Are you kidding me? Do you even know Iraqis? The whole Shi'a/Sunni division is blown out of proportion by intelligence agencies, both foreign and local, trying to alienate Iran. If the Koreans are "connected", the Iraqis are intertwined. Intermarriage is very common, with couples maintaining their own sectarian identity. I was raised as Sunni (not in Iraq) but have attended a Shi'ite religious school for a whole year .. without realizing. That's how similar the two are.
- b-man 16y ago
  Yes, "liberate" the people with bombs and assassination. History appears to like iteration.
  - liuliu 16y ago
    It annoyed me for a while. People didn't kill themselves and bomb for an ideology; they do so to realize a political goal. Sometimes, the religion pursuit serves as a very good medium to convince people into such extreme action, nevertheless, it is not meaningless. In your post, you imply that such suicide attack would invoke in the process of reunification but IMHO, it is very unlikely. Most of suicide bombers hold a religion belief and a very strong desire to realize or just spell out a particular political pursuit. Someone would argue that the Communism ideology is a religion, but you should look at Russia, at East Europe, even if it is a religion, it must be a very unpersuasive one. There must be a loads of troubles when you try to reunite two countries, but I guess that would be much more peaceful process than the Iraq or Afghanistan.
    - b-man 16y ago
      It was sarcasm man. I'm not defending using suicide attacks to invoke the process of reunification. Personally I would let the Korea peninsula future alone, where koreans would take care of themselves. But again, what do I know? I'm a westerner programmer with limited sociopolitical knowledge.
fleitz 16y ago
The problem as we found out in the 50s is not in defeating the DKRP, it is in defeating China. Canada is much different geographically and geopolitically than North Korea, also North Korea ISN'T on the US doorstep. As a better example of what would happen to North Korea if it were on the US doorstep, look towards Cuba. The US by and large tolerates Cuba to exist in it's current form as long as it does not pose a significant threat to US interests. If Cuba decided to stockpile nuclear weapons you'd see a much different reaction. Since the 50s the DKRP has been essentially in China's hemisphere of influence under it's own unwritten version of the monroe doctorine.
- DrJokepu 16y ago
  It's really interesting that you mention China because seems to start to get a bit annoyed and ashamed by North Korea. What North Korea is doing is very bad for business (and war would hurt it even more so), North Korea is not a significant trade partner and China doesn't care about ideology any more as these days it's a communist country only in name; it's de facto a capitalist dictatorship. I don't think China will abandon North Korea but I also don't think they would be as willing to support North Korea as they have done in the past.
  - fleitz 16y ago
    I agree, but that means that the USA doesn't need to respond if China will keep NK in line.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  The problem as we found out in the 50s is not in defeating the DKRP, it is in defeating China. That's not a difficult matter. Unlike the situation between the US and Russia in the 50-60's, China is heavily dependent on trade with the US and the rest of the world. Step 1: Cut off all trade with China. Step 2: All Chinese-owned T-bills are declared null and void and Chinese assets at US banks are seized. (Followed by some forensic accounting to track down bonds they own through subsidiaries.) Step 3: Japan/SK will almost certainly do the same. So would Taiwan if they want to stay under our military umbrella. If steps 1-3 haven't completely destroyed China's economy: Step 4: Naval blockade. Any cargo ships entering or leaving a Chinese port are seized. China has a lot to lose, and very little to gain. If we were serious about overthrowing NK, China would be foolish engage in open hostilities in an attempt to stop us. All they could really do is play passive aggressive games that would make our life marginally harder.
icegreentea 16y ago
It's likely all the guns they have aimed at Seoul have a fail deadly fall back in the case of an attempted decapitation attack. In which case, we would be blowing off South Korea's head off. Hell, the Soviet Union and the US during the cold war assumed it would be retard hard, if not impossible to wipe out each other's entire chain of command. And they had nukes. And they tried REALLY hard.

cpearce 16y ago

Why do you think it's so easy to track North Korean officials? Decapitating the leadership in Iraq didn't happen quickly, why would it so much easier in North Korea, a country with far lusher vegetation? Seoul is only 35 miles from the border with North Korea. The North has artillery which can hit Seoul, hence the South needs to be very careful not to provoke the North. Any engagement would be costly.

andymorris 16y ago

Have we seriously learned nothing from Iraq? Take out the leadership, and you are left with a failed country and a population that is likely to be hostile. Next you'll tell me that we'll walk into NK as liberators...

mbreese 16y ago
Now, that's not fair. By most measures NK is already a failed country...
- RomP 16y ago
  It won't make its population any less hostile (and armed) when they find out that their beloved leader has been assassinated by the exact people they've learned to hate for as long as they can remember themselves.
liuliu 16y ago
It is not another Iraq. Iraq has a very specific nationality problem between Shi'ya and Sunni, and it is a separate nation from 1920s. People in both side of Korea are connected through blood and family relationship, South Korea have a very strong will to help restore the government/police/economic system in NK. The U.S. wouldn't have got into such bizarre situation as in Iraq.
- mahmud 16y ago
  Are you kidding me? Do you even know Iraqis? The whole Shi'a/Sunni division is blown out of proportion by intelligence agencies, both foreign and local, trying to alienate Iran. If the Koreans are "connected", the Iraqis are intertwined. Intermarriage is very common, with couples maintaining their own sectarian identity. I was raised as Sunni (not in Iraq) but have attended a Shi'ite religious school for a whole year .. without realizing. That's how similar the two are.
b-man 16y ago
Yes, "liberate" the people with bombs and assassination. History appears to like iteration.
- liuliu 16y ago
  It annoyed me for a while. People didn't kill themselves and bomb for an ideology; they do so to realize a political goal. Sometimes, the religion pursuit serves as a very good medium to convince people into such extreme action, nevertheless, it is not meaningless. In your post, you imply that such suicide attack would invoke in the process of reunification but IMHO, it is very unlikely. Most of suicide bombers hold a religion belief and a very strong desire to realize or just spell out a particular political pursuit. Someone would argue that the Communism ideology is a religion, but you should look at Russia, at East Europe, even if it is a religion, it must be a very unpersuasive one. There must be a loads of troubles when you try to reunite two countries, but I guess that would be much more peaceful process than the Iraq or Afghanistan.
  - b-man 16y ago
    It was sarcasm man. I'm not defending using suicide attacks to invoke the process of reunification. Personally I would let the Korea peninsula future alone, where koreans would take care of themselves. But again, what do I know? I'm a westerner programmer with limited sociopolitical knowledge.

fleitz 16y ago

The problem as we found out in the 50s is not in defeating the DKRP, it is in defeating China. Canada is much different geographically and geopolitically than North Korea, also North Korea ISN'T on the US doorstep. As a better example of what would happen to North Korea if it were on the US doorstep, look towards Cuba. The US by and large tolerates Cuba to exist in it's current form as long as it does not pose a significant threat to US interests. If Cuba decided to stockpile nuclear weapons you'd see a much different reaction. Since the 50s the DKRP has been essentially in China's hemisphere of influence under it's own unwritten version of the monroe doctorine.

DrJokepu 16y ago
It's really interesting that you mention China because seems to start to get a bit annoyed and ashamed by North Korea. What North Korea is doing is very bad for business (and war would hurt it even more so), North Korea is not a significant trade partner and China doesn't care about ideology any more as these days it's a communist country only in name; it's de facto a capitalist dictatorship. I don't think China will abandon North Korea but I also don't think they would be as willing to support North Korea as they have done in the past.
- fleitz 16y ago
  I agree, but that means that the USA doesn't need to respond if China will keep NK in line.
yummyfajitas 16y ago
The problem as we found out in the 50s is not in defeating the DKRP, it is in defeating China. That's not a difficult matter. Unlike the situation between the US and Russia in the 50-60's, China is heavily dependent on trade with the US and the rest of the world. Step 1: Cut off all trade with China. Step 2: All Chinese-owned T-bills are declared null and void and Chinese assets at US banks are seized. (Followed by some forensic accounting to track down bonds they own through subsidiaries.) Step 3: Japan/SK will almost certainly do the same. So would Taiwan if they want to stay under our military umbrella. If steps 1-3 haven't completely destroyed China's economy: Step 4: Naval blockade. Any cargo ships entering or leaving a Chinese port are seized. China has a lot to lose, and very little to gain. If we were serious about overthrowing NK, China would be foolish engage in open hostilities in an attempt to stop us. All they could really do is play passive aggressive games that would make our life marginally harder.

icegreentea 16y ago

It's likely all the guns they have aimed at Seoul have a fail deadly fall back in the case of an attempted decapitation attack. In which case, we would be blowing off South Korea's head off. Hell, the Soviet Union and the US during the cold war assumed it would be retard hard, if not impossible to wipe out each other's entire chain of command. And they had nukes. And they tried REALLY hard.