http://www.vice.com/read/how-to-prepare-for-a-north-korean-invasion
What would it be like if it did happen?
If the North Koreans did invade, intelligence puts their army at around 1.2 million infantry who would crash the borders at various points. Because of all those landmines put in over the years, we figure they’re going to clear a lane of entry for their troops to punch through using artillery and overwhelming numbers, which means it’s critical the whole line and each piece of real estate is held by each company. If the line is breached at all, we’re pretty much screwed. Their orders are to hold their real estate for seven minutes—no more, no less.
Seven minutes sounds really specific.
That’s exactly how long it takes to scramble bombers to their location so they can bomb it directly. This is why they often call their little grid the “tomb.” It’s ultimately a suicide zone.
That’s pretty heavy. Where are these jets coming from, exactly?
Jets in the present plan would be coming from Okinawa, Guam, and some of the US aircraft carriers stationed in the Pacific. But by the time the jets take off and drop their bombs, there won’t be any airfields to land and refuel at in South Korea, because all of the airfields are strategic North Korean targets and all of their heavy artillery have the range to hit them easily. That’s why the South Korean air force has top-secret landing zones already set up on highways across the country that are equipped to refuel and rearm planes. But apparently North Korean spies have already confirmed all of these highways anyway.
So basically everybody is screwed and the defensive plan is hopeless.
Nobody really expects those companies to hold on for that long anyway. It’s a long shot. They’ll not only be getting their area bombed to hell, but don’t forget, North Korea has something like 130,000 well-trained special forces, and they’ll probably already be landing on the South Korean coast coming up their ass while they’re holding on for seven minutes.
They’ll be do something called “promoting general chaos,” a military tactic meant to shock your enemy’s will to fight by attacking psychological targets like city halls, police bases, radio stations, water purification plants, hospitals, trains, and even grocery stores. There’s also confirmed intelligence that some North Korean troops will be using South Korean uniforms to confuse people. On top of all that there are the tunnels.
What do you mean, “the tunnels”?
They’ve started finding these tunnels built by the North Koreans that I’ve been to myself, that stretch two and a half miles into South Korean territory. We’re talking tunnels wide enough that every hour a whole battalion could be pumped out of it and just start swarming everything in sight.
I’ve heard a lot about the North Koreans and their underground armies. What’s that all about?
The lesson the North Korean army learned from Iraq, Afghanistan, and even the last Korean War, is that the US, South Korea’s chief ally, always has air supremacy. That’s why they’ve created bases for full divisions buried under mountains that are so deep and impenetrable they could sustain a nuclear attack. Not to mention they have built-in fiber-optic communication networks connecting every underground base. They literally have everything you’d need there, like factories and workforces to build tanks, guns, and munitions. They use these mountain bases as permanent bunkers, with long range howitzers on rail lines scaling across peaks that can relentlessly shoot salvos. Mobile artillery like that is an incredible advantage. Even though the South Korean army could probably triangulate where the howitzer fire comes from, the rail lines allow them to quickly relocate.
This all sounds like they’re really prepared and South Korea isn’t.
I mean it’s a completely different society and outlook. Just to give you an idea how hard and disciplined these SOB’s are, around 2005 a North Korean soldier defected and gave himself up to South Korean police in some remote village on the northwest coast. When an intelligence officer asked him how he got there he said he swam. The guy was basically a member of an elite reconnaissance unit that literally swam something like 30 miles down from North Korea, gathered intelligence on South Korean defenses, then swam back. The guy just ditched his unit for the swim back. He was shocked the South Koreans didn’t do the same thing.
A tunnel, an underground base, can become a tomb. Bunker busters to seal them in and the threat is over. I have little doubt the South Koreans know where most of the tunnels are, and if they do, I would be amazed if they haven't tapped into them for the purposes of early warning and demolition.