Fears mount that North Korea is preparing to attack the South

The Times (UK) ^ | 06/02/09 | Richard Lloyd Parry

[EQAndyBuzz]

NK will eventually attack SK. However it will only happen once America decides to scrap its nuclear program and anti-missile shield.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[GOPJ]

But what will they accomplish

Like all jealous totalitarians they'll achieve sociopathic thrills at the misery and uproar they're causing.

[Thud]

NK is so far gone they’d have trouble attacking a paper bag.

[SevenofNine]

If I remember about South Korea miltary I take South Koreans over NK 2 to 1 and take the points LOL!

[swarthyguy]

No doubt the South would prevail, with the help of the US and Japan.

But, in the first minutes of an attack, potentially Seoul is destroyed and the DMZ battle zone takes heavy, heavy casualties, the US is a trip wire there.

On the bright side, I doubt there’s going to be an tsunami of PLA soldiers coming over the Yalu this time around.

[AdmSmith]

They have agents operating in Japan in significant numbers, too
pachinko parlors!

[Antoninus]

If NK attacks, it's with the tacit blessing of China, who will bluster and bemoan the attack in public, while shipping arms to the NKs covertly.

I sure hope SK and Japan are prepared. The US is good-for-nothing right now.

[AdmSmith]

No, I do not think that China would support this, the financial consequences would be terrible. The Chinese economy would suffer hence no Chinese involvement. My bet is that there will be an agreement between Washington and Beijing, Moscow will, as always, try to throw sand in the machinery.

[This_far]

“It’s always been my understanding that the NK military is well fed.”

And with good reason (think about it).

Meanwhile, the rest of the country requires food donations from other countries.

WHO gets the food?

[Steel Wolf]

'Well fed' in relative terms to the average North Korean. Even the military is crippled by widespread malnutrition, with the average size, weight, and intellectual capacity stunted by years of inadequate nourishment.

The recruits themselves are badly damaged by the time they make it into the active military, and little can be done to fix it at that point, even if there were ample food supplies.

It's true that they get the lions share of the resources, but they're far from 'well fed' by any reasonable definition.

[This_far]

“It’s true that they get the lions share of the resources, but they’re far from ‘well fed’ by any reasonable definition.”

Agreed, but the point was, loyalty will remain only as long as being in the military is better off than not being in the military. (at least as it applies to food?)

[Thunder90]

China will move in with its partners(probably Russia) to restore order. S. Korea and U.S. may be invited in to make it an international efforts.

I believe that one of the SCO wargames simulated such a scenario.