Why hasn't North Korea tried to start World War 3?

[yllus]

North Korea's leadership isn't peaceful, but it's not irrational either - they want to live, and preferably to live comfortably. The current situation suits them just fine.

 

[inachu]

You think it's the US preventing the two country's from joining, then you go on to say that the US military still needs to be there.

I suspect your information comes from a bunch of stupid kids.

My information I got on this is from Korean people who are over 50 years old.

I go to a Korean church where we have escaped north koreans who are adapting to real life in the western world and they see the wool that was pulled over their eyes and now they hate north Korea even more so than the average american for the abuse they have been put under. Between NYC and Virginia there are over 600 Korean churches and It is good to get a "KOREAN PERSPECTIVE" on world politics.

The only thing I regret is most of those churches are all evangelical in nature.

 

[inachu]

One fact you people may have missed the past 15 years is that there are now economic zones in North Korea and South Korea where each side is accepting the other sides people and the reason they are doing this is that South Korea is trying to boost North Korea economy and by putting North Koreans into a employment situation in South Korea will teach them many things about free economics so that once the walls do come down there will not be a MAD HOUSE RUSH to south korea by North Korean citizens.

South Korean estimate the merger will happen under 20 years from now.
Koreans are just hoping USA Military stop boasting about every now and then so that these economies no matter how fragile will get stronger and stronger to such a point that a wall separating them will become meaningless.

So that is the goal that both sides are working on without the help of America at this very moment.

 

[PlanetJosh]

I know both countries probably can't launch missiles far enough to hit the U.S. So earlier I implied they could smuggle them in and if they didn't know how to trigger a full detonation then just set off dirty bombs.

 

[Thump553]

One fact you people may have missed the past 15 years is that there are now economic zones in North Korea and South Korea where each side is accepting the other sides people and the reason they are doing this is that South Korea is trying to boost North Korea economy and by putting North Koreans into a employment situation in South Korea will teach them many things about free economics so that once the walls do come down there will not be a MAD HOUSE RUSH to south korea by North Korean citizens.

South Korean estimate the merger will happen under 20 years from now.
Koreans are just hoping USA Military stop boasting about every now and then so that these economies no matter how fragile will get stronger and stronger to such a point that a wall separating them will become meaningless.

So that is the goal that both sides are working on without the help of America at this very moment.

You mean those economic zones NK shut down a few years ago in a hissy fit-and left shut down for the better part of a year?

Do you honestly believe the USA wants to spend millions and millions of dollars each year protecting South Korea so they can ship us subsidized autos, steel and ships to unfairly compete with US labor and US companies? Hardly. It's not like SK is some Middle Eastern oil source. The USA gets little to no benefit at all from the money, troops and bases it has poured into SK.

If SK and the wackos in NK think they can solve their own problems, go for it-the US certainly isn't stopping you. We would love to close those bases down.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

My information I got on this is from Korean people who are over 50 years old.

I go to a Korean church where we have escaped north koreans who are adapting to real life in the western world and they see the wool that was pulled over their eyes and now they hate north Korea even more so than the average american for the abuse they have been put under. Between NYC and Virginia there are over 600 Korean churches and It is good to get a "KOREAN PERSPECTIVE" on world politics.

The only thing I regret is most of those churches are all evangelical in nature.

Old people are not a reliable source of information or necessarily correct facts.

 

[fskimospy]

One fact you people may have missed the past 15 years is that there are now economic zones in North Korea and South Korea where each side is accepting the other sides people and the reason they are doing this is that South Korea is trying to boost North Korea economy and by putting North Koreans into a employment situation in South Korea will teach them many things about free economics so that once the walls do come down there will not be a MAD HOUSE RUSH to south korea by North Korean citizens.

South Korean estimate the merger will happen under 20 years from now.
Koreans are just hoping USA Military stop boasting about every now and then so that these economies no matter how fragile will get stronger and stronger to such a point that a wall separating them will become meaningless.

So that is the goal that both sides are working on without the help of America at this very moment.

The areas of economic cooperation between North Korea and South Korea represent a vanishingly small percentage of the work force and of either country's GDP. Furthermore, these zones are used mostly by the North Korean leadership as ways to access hard currency to continue their kleptocracy.

There is no plausible path to reunification without the disintegration of the North Korean government as we know it.

 

[inachu]

Old people are not a reliable source of information or necessarily correct facts.

I can agree with your comment to an certain extent but I even run across a few young South Koreans who are very uneducated and still call the city of Busan as Pusan.

It is when I come across those who pronounce it Pusan then I know how short their knowledge of politics really go.
(Not saying that you pronounce it that way but I have run across many who do and then when I need to stop talking to them as they refuse to listen.)

 

[piasabird]

NK cant win WW3! They can barely afford to feed the people in the military. I doubt China would even fight on their side. The only grip that NK has on their people is the threat of going to a forced labor camp and controlling their access to the Media outlets of the rest of the world. i.e. Keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit!

To NK the only way they could merge would be to take over South Korea and establish their brand of communism/socialism.

Under South Korean Leadership they have become a manufacturing power house, and a land of Milk and Honey.

 

[Zodiark1593]

North Korea is basically that damn Chihuahua that barks in the face of bigger dogs (German Shepherds) and everyone else, but when it comes down to it, does nothing more. A good kick will put it in it's place quickly.

 

[rommelrommel]

NK can't start ww3 because China isn't going to back them. China only grudgingly props them up for the time being so long as they behave more or less.

 

[cabri]

NK can't start ww3 because China isn't going to back them. China only grudgingly props them up for the time being so long as they behave more or less.

China puts up with them for two reasons.

1) China does not wanta flood of millions of NK refugees streaming across their border into one of their own poorer provinces.

2) China wants a buffer zone between themselves and the capitalistic South Korea/West. Both for military purposes and economic/social. Keep the western cultural away from their borders, do not let the mass of people know what is out there.

NK starting a war would cause Option #1 and result in Option #2.
Supporting NK is the lesser of all the perceived evils.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

One fact you people may have missed the past 15 years is that there are now economic zones in North Korea and South Korea where each side is accepting the other sides people and the reason they are doing this is that South Korea is trying to boost North Korea economy and by putting North Koreans into a employment situation in South Korea will teach them many things about free economics so that once the walls do come down there will not be a MAD HOUSE RUSH to south korea by North Korean citizens.

The economic cooperation zone is an incredibly tiny portion of South Korea's economy. The North needs that zone in operation far more than the South. That's what you're missing. The South has noble intentions with that zone but make no mistake, it makes no real economic difference for them. It is a political construct more than anything.

South Korean estimate the merger will happen under 20 years from now. Koreans are just hoping USA Military stop boasting about every now and then so that these economies no matter how fragile will get stronger and stronger to such a point that a wall separating them will become meaningless.

So that is the goal that both sides are working on without the help of America at this very moment.

If the average South Korean truly believes as you do (and I don't believe they do), they are exceptionally naïve. There will be no merger of the two Koreas without the regime in the North completely collapsing.

As others have stated, US "interference" is the only reason these South Koreans you're allegedly talking to are allowed to express their views, no matter how misguided they are. Had the US (and to be more exact, the UN forces) sat idly by, the entire Korean peninsula would be starving and under the Kim dynasty.

 

[rockyct]

The areas of economic cooperation between North Korea and South Korea represent a vanishingly small percentage of the work force and of either country's GDP. Furthermore, these zones are used mostly by the North Korean leadership as ways to access hard currency to continue their kleptocracy.

There is no plausible path to reunification without the disintegration of the North Korean government as we know it.[/QUOTE]

Bingo. We don't really know what's going on in NK right now with Kim Jong Un not doing anything in public right now. At the moment though, the government is continuing on, apparently like normal. I can't see SK letting them stay in any real power after a merger since they have actively worked against their economy and continuing to do so would hurt SK now as well. The NK government is never going to give up most of their power.

 

[brycejones]

The areas of economic cooperation between North Korea and South Korea represent a vanishingly small percentage of the work force and of either country's GDP. Furthermore, these zones are used mostly by the North Korean leadership as ways to access hard currency to continue their kleptocracy.

There is no plausible path to reunification without the disintegration of the North Korean government as we know it.

/thread

 

[smackababy]

This is true, had the US stayed out of Korean politics the two Koreas would have merged back in the 1950's, haha.

They would have! It would just be all North Korean leadership in charge of the entire peninsula. It certainly wouldn't be a more stable country, or as prosperous. But it would be one Korea!


The reason NK hasn't attempted to start any war is because they can't and they know it. Every now and again, they are allowed some silly "Hey! We are still important! Look at us!" show of their limited power, while the rest of the developed world laughs at them. NK would be lucky to hit SK with their ICBMs and their large standing army wouldn't last a week if they actually marched across the 38th parallel They lack any kind of economic power to sustain even the smallest of skirmishes and they lack any real backing allies to get support against the US. China isn't going to start a war with the US because of NK, and nobody else would even bother helping.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

They would have! It would just be all North Korean leadership in charge of the entire peninsula. It certainly wouldn't be a more stable country, or as prosperous. But it would be one Korea!


The reason NK hasn't attempted to start any war is because they can't and they know it. Every now and again, they are allowed some silly "Hey! We are still important! Look at us!" show of their limited power, while the rest of the developed world laughs at them. NK would be lucky to hit SK with their ICBMs and their large standing army wouldn't last a week if they actually marched across the 38th parallel They lack any kind of economic power to sustain even the smallest of skirmishes and they lack any real backing allies to get support against the US. China isn't going to start a war with the US because of NK, and nobody else would even bother helping.

Exactly. The US would finish off the North Korean military inside of a month if a war started. Of course, a war won't start because the North Korean leadership isn't stupid and they know they're dead if they start a conflict.

 

[Shlong]

If the US stayed out of Korea, your Ill-informed friends are right, in a way. Today there would only be one Korea but it would be what is now North Korea. The USA saved South Korea's butt and then built it into a real country.

Unfortunately your friends can outdo even the French in their self-centered disregard of the sacrifices others made to save them.

Oh and NK could easily START a war, but they sure wouldn't be around to finish it.

A Frenchman once said to me if not for France's assistance in the revolutionary war, we would still be a colony. Others made sacrifices for us and we repaid that as well. South Korea have assisted the United States in Vietnam and many other wars (I believe the Vietcong feared the ROK soldiers the most out of all their enemies).

 

[rommelrommel]

A Frenchman once said to me if not for France's assistance in the revolutionary war, we would still be a colony. Others made sacrifices for us and we repaid that as well. South Korea have assisted the United States in Vietnam and many other wars (I believe the Vietcong feared the ROK soldiers the most out of all their enemies).

So that gives them (not all French, but a sizable proportion) the right to look down their noses at the rest of the world for giving them their country back after bleeding ourselves out while doing so?

 

[inachu]

Only reason why we have not attacked NK is because AIPAC says they do not have oil so we do not go

 

[rommelrommel]

Only reason why we have not attacked NK is because AIPAC says they do not have oil so we do not go

Wrong.

 

[inachu]

Wrong.

If NK has the largest supply of oil I know for a fact pundits would be giving similar arguments that the korean oil would pay for the war and so forth.

Low brow pundit arguments taken seriously by low iq top brass.

 

[rommelrommel]

If NK has the largest supply of oil I know for a fact pundits would be giving similar arguments that the korean oil would pay for the war and so forth.

Low brow pundit arguments taken seriously by low iq top brass.

You know for a fact eh?

Even if the admittedly stupid argument you make was true it would hardly be the only reason that NK hasn't been attacked.

 

[xaeniac]

because they would be destroyed and they know it. dictator only wants to stay in power starting ww3 will not ensure that

 

[nageov3t]

they don't even have the "mutual" part of mutually assured destruction down.