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Even the title of this piece seems like propaganda and fear mongering. As humans we tend to over-react to outrageous scenarios, even if the chance of it happeni

Even the title of this piece seems like propaganda and fear mongering. As humans we tend to over-react to outrageous scenarios, even if the chance of it happening is very rare. Car crashes are routine and mundane, and you're much more likely to be affected by that than North Korean bad-guy-hackers. Building outside foes is an excellent way for the state to justify an increase in power.

pekk 11y ago
It is interesting to know about the distribution of military capabilities. It shouldn't be news that North Korea has a large military.
- scarmig 11y ago
  You'd be surprised, though, by how few people realize NK has a formidable military. Every time in the last decade NK commits some insanity, over the water cooler people are more than happy to say, "[Bush|Obama] is being wimpy, he should just invade NK and be done with it." I mean, I know it's just talk, but if they had even the most cursory understanding of the military situation in the region, they wouldn't say that.
  - pakled_engineer 11y ago
    They also have all their artillery pointing at Seoul so if anything goes down they can reduce it to ashes. There is no military solution to North Korea only political.
  - jballanc 11y ago
    From what I've heard, it has less to do with just the size of the DPRK military, and more to do with the geography of South Korea. For better or worse, the Seoul metro area contains half of South Korea's entire population and is within artillery range of the border. Any attempt at an invasion would almost certainly be met with an immediate barrage of Seoul. Whatever the ultimate outcome of such an act, no one is willing to make that sacrifice.
    - jbob2000 11y ago
      I've heard this repeated many times. But the metals that make up artillery batteries rust if they aren't maintained. Ammunition has a shelf life and needs to be replaced. Troops need to be continuously trained, or they forget how to operate the machines. Sure, North Korea might have tons of weapons, but do they have the ability to maintain them?
  - snowwrestler 11y ago
    On top of the threat to Seoul, North Korea is closely supported by China. Attacking North Korea would result in immediate war with China, much as the U.S. would respond if China attacked Canada or Mexico. In addition, North Korean citizens are fiercely patriotic. Even if the North Korea military technology was destroyed, the citizens would fight an invasion in every street. The North Korea military would really be no match for the U.S. military. But North Korea is not really a military problem; it's a cultural problem and a geopolitical problem. We can't solve those with the military--as the Middle East has illustrated many times.
    - rurban 11y ago
      Yes, but the problem is not that someone would attack North Korea. The last time it was the other way round. North Korea invaded the south and only one island remained under South Korean control, until the US stepped in and fought the North Koreans back to the Chinese border. Agree with all other points. Maybe we should add that technically the two parties are still in the state of war against each other. After over 50 years they have still POW's in their prisons, and both parties have nuclear weapons. Small border or spy conflicts could easily get out of control.
- zamalek 11y ago
  Any information at all about the region is interesting. Also, to answer the question posed in the title: certainly not as good as Kim Jong-un himself.
mathattack 11y ago
It helps certain agendas to have a boogeyman out there!
xname 11y ago
What a silly argument to compare with car crashes. How many were killed in 9/11? So it's not a concern if 9/11 happens once every year?
- sqeaky 11y ago
  Something on the order of 30,000 to 40,000 Americans die in car crashes every year. Depending how you count (lung issues etc... ) 3000 to 10000 people died in 9/11. I think Escherize's point was how silly it is we don't worry about car crashes which are a real and countable, and yet we worry about third world script kiddies which likely have none of the effectiveness of the 9/11 hijackers. Terrorism in a typical year in the United States kills fewer people than bathing, smoking while sleeping or basketball. We should do what it takes to maintain a comparable level of safety to this and not get caught up in useless scaremongering.

pekk 11y ago

It is interesting to know about the distribution of military capabilities. It shouldn't be news that North Korea has a large military.

scarmig 11y ago
You'd be surprised, though, by how few people realize NK has a formidable military. Every time in the last decade NK commits some insanity, over the water cooler people are more than happy to say, "[Bush|Obama] is being wimpy, he should just invade NK and be done with it." I mean, I know it's just talk, but if they had even the most cursory understanding of the military situation in the region, they wouldn't say that.
- pakled_engineer 11y ago
  They also have all their artillery pointing at Seoul so if anything goes down they can reduce it to ashes. There is no military solution to North Korea only political.
- jballanc 11y ago
  From what I've heard, it has less to do with just the size of the DPRK military, and more to do with the geography of South Korea. For better or worse, the Seoul metro area contains half of South Korea's entire population and is within artillery range of the border. Any attempt at an invasion would almost certainly be met with an immediate barrage of Seoul. Whatever the ultimate outcome of such an act, no one is willing to make that sacrifice.
  - jbob2000 11y ago
    I've heard this repeated many times. But the metals that make up artillery batteries rust if they aren't maintained. Ammunition has a shelf life and needs to be replaced. Troops need to be continuously trained, or they forget how to operate the machines. Sure, North Korea might have tons of weapons, but do they have the ability to maintain them?
- snowwrestler 11y ago
  On top of the threat to Seoul, North Korea is closely supported by China. Attacking North Korea would result in immediate war with China, much as the U.S. would respond if China attacked Canada or Mexico. In addition, North Korean citizens are fiercely patriotic. Even if the North Korea military technology was destroyed, the citizens would fight an invasion in every street. The North Korea military would really be no match for the U.S. military. But North Korea is not really a military problem; it's a cultural problem and a geopolitical problem. We can't solve those with the military--as the Middle East has illustrated many times.
  - rurban 11y ago
    Yes, but the problem is not that someone would attack North Korea. The last time it was the other way round. North Korea invaded the south and only one island remained under South Korean control, until the US stepped in and fought the North Koreans back to the Chinese border. Agree with all other points. Maybe we should add that technically the two parties are still in the state of war against each other. After over 50 years they have still POW's in their prisons, and both parties have nuclear weapons. Small border or spy conflicts could easily get out of control.
zamalek 11y ago
Any information at all about the region is interesting. Also, to answer the question posed in the title: certainly not as good as Kim Jong-un himself.

mathattack 11y ago

It helps certain agendas to have a boogeyman out there!

xname 11y ago

What a silly argument to compare with car crashes. How many were killed in 9/11? So it's not a concern if 9/11 happens once every year?

sqeaky 11y ago
Something on the order of 30,000 to 40,000 Americans die in car crashes every year. Depending how you count (lung issues etc... ) 3000 to 10000 people died in 9/11. I think Escherize's point was how silly it is we don't worry about car crashes which are a real and countable, and yet we worry about third world script kiddies which likely have none of the effectiveness of the 9/11 hijackers. Terrorism in a typical year in the United States kills fewer people than bathing, smoking while sleeping or basketball. We should do what it takes to maintain a comparable level of safety to this and not get caught up in useless scaremongering.