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The person I was responding to said Seoul may be destroyed if we attack (unlawfully by the way) NK and that that's ok. I was simply saying we would then lose an ally in the Asian sphere and the new reunited Korea would most likely turn to China.
Hey you can post more than one sentence!
The lawfulness is subject to debate when facing a real threat, even regarding the UN charter. So it would be incorrect for you to just blurt out "unlawful". But that's out of scope for this discussion.
Likewise a N. Korea and S. Korea that is devastated by war does not automatically mean reunification. A more moderate government, one hopes, aligned with China can very well take it's place while the S. Korea stays intact and aligned with the west. Both sides survived the widespread destruction of the Korean War including the occupation of Seoul, no reason to think both sides will not survive the next war.
The thing is, the safely of the US is always a priority over any other country. Even South Korea. If keeping Kim Jong-Un from being able to launch reliable ICBMs at the US means war on the peninsula, so be it. Seoul will likely get hammered hard with many casualties. But it may come to that. Sorry Seoul, but we have to protect our own country.
One would expect the U.S. military to prioritize the safety of the U.S. over any other country, right? I mean, that's their JOB, right? That said, we are not indifferent to the fate of Seoul. Far from it. In fact, I would guess that concern over Seoul is probably the single biggest factor (along with concern about Chinese or Russian intervention) in why we haven't launched a preemptive strike yet.
And while I'm not an expert on international law, the fact that North Korea has made specific threats against our own country and against our allies, and the fact that they possess the means by which to carry out these threats, ought to be sufficient legal justification for a preemptive strike. Of course, there's the safety of Seoul to consider . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterfall8324
South Korea will be upset with us.
I would think that they'd be upset at the nutjob who is threatening to turn their capital city into a "lake of fire" instead of the one country that has done and continues to do more to protect them than has any other country in the entire world.
One would expect the U.S. military to prioritize the safety of the U.S. over any other country, right? I mean, that's their JOB, right? That said, we are not indifferent to the fate of Seoul. Far from it. In fact, I would guess that concern over Seoul is probably the single biggest factor (along with concern about Chinese or Russian intervention) in why we haven't launched a preemptive strike yet.
And while I'm not an expert on international law, the fact that North Korea has made specific threats against our own country and against our allies, and the fact that they possess the means by which to carry out these threats, ought to be sufficient legal justification for a preemptive strike. Of course, there's the safety of Seoul to consider . . .
I would think that they'd be upset at the nutjob who is threatening to turn their capital city into a "lake of fire" instead of the one country that has done and continues to do more to protect them than has any other country in the entire world.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident
I'm sure a number of Koreans would like to see a unified country in the future, but not on NK's terms. Why would they when SK is superior in every way imaginable.
From what I have read, most South Koreans don't really care that much about a unified country with NK. In the past, it was a bigger deal when people had family lost to NK that they hoped to be reunited with. But that generation is mostly gone, and there isn't a desire on the next generations' part to be combined with a country that, as you say, is so far behind their own. NK is looked down upon as an inferior backwards society. Defectors to South Korea have a very hard time adjusting to SK because it is so much more modern than their own, but also because they aren't always welcomed with open arms.
It's funny because I was obsessed with reading books on NK and watching documentaries on them for several months. I have become friendly with a woman from Seoul who is living in the US for two years. I was talking to her about NK and my interest in learning about it. Her response, "We never think about NK." I was somewhat surprised, but her response mirrored what I read about the subject. Sad what NK has become.
Even here in China - NK's best ally - everyone thinks of the place as a backwards, dynastic throwback to China's worst years. People refer to Kim Jong Un as "Fatty Kim" or "little fatty," make fun of him and the fact the North Koreans are starving, etc.
China has a pretty complicated relationship with North Korea.
While they don't have any love for North Korea, and aren't crazy about Kim Jong-un's antics - the Chinese are also very wary of a unified Korea, because it's likely to be dominated by Seoul, and therefore allied with the US, right up to their doorstep on the Yalu River.
A sudden collapse of the Kim regime is going to be very difficult for China, who anticipates a mass movement of refugees fleeing towards and over the border to China - creating a big security and humanitarian crisis for China.
So the best or (least bad) situation for China is to somewhat maintain the status quo of North Korea being a buffer state for them. Any American head of state has to realize the limitations of trying to pressure China to do the bidding of American objectives/goals because they are in many ways diametrically opposed to Chinese geopolitical interests.
Do we really need a conventional war against North Korea to halt the development and deployment of their missiles and avoid the possibility of an attack the South? We have the sanctions. I believe we waged cyber warfare against Iran with some degree of success.
I would assume we are working with Japan and S. Korea to have at the ready a functional anti missile defense. And of course there must be some Black Ops training going on now to take Kim and his top leadership out.
China was stupid for letting NK having nukes. Mao said power is in the barrel of a gun. Now NK has the gun. Korean and chinese relations have not always been good. Koreans looks down on chinese as an inferior people even though Chinese have a higher population. Kim could launch at nuke at china tomorrow if he wanted to now. Beijing is a lot closer than washington.
Oh, China "let" them have nukes now? That's new. They're garbage military full of people that have NEVER seen combat and they're outdated former Soviet technology is no match for any modern military. Nuke or not, Us and every other country that's had nukes for decades have insanely sophisticated systems for automatic nuke defense and while it's not a guarantee it's might as well be for the country that JUST RECENTLY kept a missile in the air long enough to aim it somewhere. Be realistic.
It helps to remember what Kim's end goal is: Nuclear power sufficient to deter US attack while preparing for "The Final Victory," which is their way of referring to forced Korean unification - under DPRK's rule. Current propaganda hymns in NK attribute the Final Victory to Kim Jong Un.
In other words, they think that if they can get the US to accept them as a nuclear power, then they think the US will not attack them. Then they can invade and enslave the ROK at their leisure.
Surprising how little the US media seems to know about the strategies being played out in the region. Just today I heard some national broadcaster talking about B-1 and stealth fighters flying "show of strength missions" over the ROK yesterday.
Those live-fire bombing missions weren't 'shows of strength.' They were practicing.
A video of Escaped North Koreans tasting American BBQ and sharing stories of life in North Korea.
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