Posted on 10/15/2006 8:31:56 PM PDT by sgtyork
South Koreans Have Had Enough Engagement The South Koreans have pressed for engagement with North Korea and the Kim Jong-Il regime for decades. They have protested against the American military presence in their nation and tried to appease their northern neighbor into playing nice on the peninsula. Kim's latest nuclear test appears to have finally demonstrated the folly of that approach. In less than a week, public opinion has shifted profoundly towards a hard-line policy and even arming the South with nuclear weapons:
In less than a week since North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapon, public opinion in the South has turned sharply against a South Korean policy of engaging the enemy in the belief it will eventually bring peace on the divided peninsula. A JoongAng newspaper poll, several days after the reported nuclear test Monday, found 78 percent of respondents thought South Korea should revise its policy, and 65 percent said South Korea should develop nuclear weapons to protect itself.
Protesters have held nightly candlelight vigils, and some have burned North Korean flags.
That's a switch from the American flags that used to get burned regularly in South Korea.
The ruling party has seen its popularity plummet to 11%, barely a blip on the radar, after the collapse of Roh's "sunshine policy" of engagement. Even President Roh acknowledges that the test has neutered his policy, but that realization comes too late to undo the damage. The opposition GNP now has 40% support, and they have no desire to see the sunshine policy rise again. They want an end to joint industrial and tourism projects, including a resort complex built by Hyundai in the blighted North.
South Korea got a dose of reality this week, and to their credit, they've recognized what many do not: appeasing dictators does not produce security. It only kicks the can down the road. Roh and his mentor Kim Dae-jung still believe in appeasement, which means that South Koreans have a choice to make about their own government and their own security -- and they know that time has almost run out.
(2) Build a wall along the 38th parallel
(3) Withdraw all U.S. troops there but provide naval and air support
Man, do (1) and 50% of their population will most likely die in 2-3 years.
Bump
Killing people indiscriminately and in large numbers with nuclear weapons is not a nice thing. But it happens to be the most reliable way to minimize the deaths of Americans. If a madman gets a nuclear weapon within range of US forces and expresses the intent to use it on them, then nothing it too extreme to prevent that from occuring. That should go for North Korea, Iran, and whatever regime overthrows Musharraf in Pakistan. It's too bad that no leader in this country will ever have Truman's stomach.
Take any of these steps and NK rolls South of the DMZ. They can take Seoul in a matter of days or reduce it to rubble if they choose. We could do nothing to stop it and I don't think that we should even try. Too many South Koreans think that America is the source of their problems. They have appeased their evil relatives up north and helped to create this mess. SK could have done more to stop Kim and secure their own future. Let's see how they enjoy the fruits of their thought process.
Leaving Korea now would be seen as an open door to invade by the North. War would immediately follow.
just turn the north to glass, problem solved...
Our policies are based on OUR interests not SKorean opinions.
I expect that to happen in my lifetime.
SK makes a lot of commodity semiconductors these days. Might be a good time to survey the old stock portfolio for any connections to that area...and, dump them.
Not the case anymore. North Korea poses a great threat to South Korea via their artillery power, but they have no chance of taking Seoul, intact or otherwise. KPA offensive power ended in the late 80s, when the Soviet Union collapsed. They haven't had enough reserve fuel or parts to do more than the occasional training exercise. They simply don't have the strategic supply reserves needed to fight for more than a week or two. They can unleash holy hell until then, but that would simply end in a month long standoff at the border, before South Korea pushed north of the DMZ.
Infantry is a vital resource in the treacherous Korean terrain, but without air, armor, and most importantly, resupply, it winds up being cut off and wiped out. The KPA would quickly run out of material, and would be doomed. Even in the event they lucked out and make a breakthrough move, their command and control is so rigid and centralized, they're not agile enough to capitalize on it and beat our counterattack.
The North Koreans hold Seoul hostage, and that's a powerful deterrent. An invasion, however, is an act of suicidal madness.
Too many South Koreans think that America is the source of their problems. They have appeased their evil relatives up north and helped to create this mess. SK could have done more to stop Kim and secure their own future. Let's see how they enjoy the fruits of their thought process.
That's largely been the case among the younger folk, but it seems they're coming around. We should at least see how things develop before we throw them to the wolves.
Your interest in such an event is little reason to provoke it.
In the game of RISK only little wood/plastic pieces lose their lives. Here we are speaking of hundreds of thousands of deaths and worse. As well as immense economic reactions.
We cannot be sure of the military's ideological devotion to the regime. If high it would be very costly action.
When I was in Korea in the late '80's there were still plenty of Koreans that would come up to an American and thank them for stopping the Communists. It was only in those years that the South Korean economy surged to the point where they could prevail over the north. The South Korean Army was plenty aggressive, but remember that the North Koreans have 1 million men under arms - a million!
The situation is somewhat more complex than you seem to understand.
The South Koreans have pressed for engagement with North Korea and the Kim Jong-Il regime for decades.
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