S Korean, U.S. troops on alert after North's threats

It would seem North Korean has crossed the red line now even for Russia and China. These 2 powerful nations are probably the only ones who can contain Kim and his clique. Stability in the region is in the best interests of all parties. An armed conflict will wreak havoc on the economies of China, Russia and other countries in that part of the world.

There are 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan. All are within striking range of North Korea’s missiles.

These are hostages! US troops in ROK will packing up their stuff and families get the way out of North Korean artillary!

US troops presents in asia was the cause of tensions in Korean peninsula!If Abraham Lincoln can unified those confederate states in america's civil war, why the Koreans people cannot unified their country?It's time US troops to get out!

North Korea has announced it was abandoning the armistice several times before—most recently in 2003 and 2006.

This turn they are playing real!

I think China and Russia have both come to the realization that the world would be better off with a unified S. Korea intent upon trade with both of them, than a nut case N. Korea that seems hell bent upon causing everyone a lot of anxiety.

China wants to be the next economic super power, her interests are now tied deeply to those of the US and Japan to achieve that goal. Russia wants to resume being a super power and knows that to do that it must have the ability to suppress resistance in its former Soviet Territory. So they cannot cry foul too loudly if the west decides to isolate or crush N. Korea.

There has never been a better time to isolate and pressure N.Korea. And I firmly believe that Kim is fully aware of the unwinnable situation he is in. Most likely he is preparing for a power transfer and hoping to cement hs regime's rule. I don't think he is foolish or crazy enough to go to war. The outcome is too bleak for all of Korea if that ever happens.

there was a clear commitment to go for sanctions in the new resolution and no reluctance from North Korea’s allies, China and Russia.

Or, as Smith likes to put it, Russia and China are kowtowing to the US.

I'm just worried that an increasingly frail Kim has realized that he has reached the end of the road in terms of leadership and has decided to take his people down with him, i.e. he’s got nothing to lose now and is going for broke.

If China and Russia will give us a backdoor OK, we can take care of this little problem toot sweet.

Of course, North Korea will glow in the dark for the next 50,000 years.

The reason why China,Russia backing North Korea was US troops stood on the Korean peninsula! It was definately no way to let the collpase of North Korea and forming a unified ROK ruled by Seoul! The US troops will moved to Yalu river. Just like after the collpase of Warsaw pact Nato troops moved to Russia's border and after 911 Nato troops stood in central asia! This is a trap! North Korea made nuclear arsenals was good to deter US,Japan alliances! Sure China and Russia wont let this 'bulldog' starved! In fact Chinese and Russian leaders were delighted! It was good to see a war of attritions to further hurting US strength in asia. Sometimes it was hilarious that US or Japanese politicians were so naive to believe Chinese leaders will help them! Asking help from an enemy to fight their own comarades when they are in deep troubles? Rememeber it was Bush said China was an adversary 8 years ago,didnt they forgotton their words?

I think the ball is in China's hand. IT is time for China to nudge the right people to change the course Dear Leader Monchihichi is on. Maybe with new leadership North Korea can become a real member of the world rather than a crazed rogue nation.

dragonczar at 05:00 PM JST - 28th May US troops presents in asia was the cause of tensions in Korean peninsula!If Abraham Lincoln can unified those confederate states in america's civil war, why the Koreans people cannot unified their country?It's time US troops to get out!

So you are saying that the U.S. is Lincoln and your Dear Leader is the South? You may want to reread the rest of that little history. Do not know if you know it or not but the Confederate States of America lost that little war.....

Ok question for you dragonczar, do you want your Dear Leader to be the ruler of all of Korea? If no, then who will be the first President, please do tell....I love these fantasies......

dragonczar at 05:00 PM JST - 28th May US troops presents in asia was the cause of tensions in Korean peninsula!If Abraham Lincoln can unified those confederate states in america's civil war, why the Koreans people cannot unified their country?It's time US troops to get out!

Well, if we were to employ Lincoln's way to unify the peninsula, I guess we can let ROK/US forces (Grant) take out DPRK forces (Lee) and then unify the country... Perhaps even do a little Sherman's March into Pyongyang on the way?

Somebody mentioned yesterday that North Korea has 7 million soldiers who would be following Kim's orders to kill.

dragonczar mentions the 80,000 troops we have in South Korea and Japan. You think that they have a chance? North Korea could lose 100 to 1 and still continue troops to march into South Korea.

We don't have the influence with North Korea that Russia or China have. We need them to push their clout over Kim.

You can put troops on the alert, but to really go on the offensive the United States isn't in any place to take on North Korea. < :-)

I have little doubt that dissention is starting to form within "Kim's clique," and the process of getting a successor in place is underway.

Whenever factions of a regime want to control events within their borders, they will do things which escalate tensions coming from outside. You know, unify the country in the face of a common threat and all that.

Every nation that likes to think of itself as a military power does this. North Korea only shows what it's like when taken to the extreme.

North Korea has 7 million soldiers

I think the number is actually closer to 10 million. You can go ahead and reference that in future posts.

If Wikipedia is correct it's more like 13 Million I guess. A lot of North Koreans to take on in any military exercise. < :-)

According to a credible source:

North Korea’s military, officially known as the Korean People’s Army (KPA), is one of the world’s largest. According to recent estimates, there are approximately 1.2 million active-duty members in the North Korean military, a number surpassed only by the much larger countries of China, the United States, and India. North Korea’s overall military spending may consume as much as one quarter of the nation’s GDP.

All North Korean men serve for at least 10 years of active duty in the KPA (military), with conscription beginning at age 17. After they are discharged from active duty, North Korean men are then required to carry out part-time service in the Workers and Peasants Red Guard between the ages of 40 and 60. Some North Korean women also serve in the military, although their service is not mandatory.

http://fieldsupport.lingnet.org/products/cip/korea/cip_kor/default.html

If Wikipedia is correct it's more like 13 Million I guess. A lot of North Koreans to take on in any military exercise

In military terminology we would call that cannon fodder.

If anyone cares to remember Iraq boasted a million man army before the gulf war and was thrashed in days and Iraq had modern equipment at the time. North Korea's armed forces use technology thats 30 or more years old, no body armor, less than 4500 armored vehicals, a fishing boat navy, and pre-cold war aircraft.

On the other hand South Korea, with its meger 650000 active service men (with about 12 million available for military service), is equipped with modern weapons and vehicles, uses the military training program developed by the U.S military, and is backed by the U.S navy.

The word massacre wouldn't even begin to describe the war should it go that far.

there are approximately 1.2 million active-duty members in the North Korean military

But someone before said it was 7 million.

The United States doesn't have the troops to take on another military operation. So you can count us out.

Now you better encourage Russia, China and maybe India to take them on. But we're not taking on anybody.

OOO-OOO-OOO maybe if we had an increase of more than 11 or 12 percent of the population to enlist. Hmm-m-m-m... You can forget that. < :-)

SuperLib, I was repeating another poster earlier. Then I went to Wikipedia. It all depends on how you look at the numbers. No matter, we're not going into North Korea. < :-)

Another poster on a different thread thought that the first engagement is going to be naval in nature when SK stops a NK ship. That seems reasonable. There is no way that the US and SK are going to start a land war, that just isn't feasible. The Chinese are the only people positioned to put a stop to NKs brinkmanship. China does care about the stability of the region and probably told NK to not cross certain lines. It would appear that NK has. Where China goes with this I don't know but I would be very pleased if they came across the Yalu with guns blazing.

No matter, we're not going into North Korea.

Kim knows this and this is why he has become more belligerent then ever.

Unfortunately the world lacks a Churchill, Reagan or Thatcher to unite us against a common enemy at this crucial moment. Appeasement will be tried at the behest of our weak president and will fail just as other more infamous appeasement attempts have failed in the past.Its only a matter of time before the NOKOs put this technology in the hands of some really bad people and we pay the ultimate consequence.

If a prelude to a naval blockade is just a prelude to bombs falling, illusions of peace are as delusional as they were for Nevel Chamberlin.

VOR, well said.

The United States doesn't have the troops to take on another military >operation. So you can count us out.

Unless of course we bring back the draft.

Unless of course we bring back the draft.

Can't we first expend all the surplus Vietnam War era munitions (i.e., 500kg Conventional Aerial Bombs and Daisy Cutters) in a mass carpet bombing run first before we go to the ground war and draft route?

(or were they all used up in the Gulf War?)

While we don't know much about North Korea, one thing we do know is that it took Kim Il-Jong a while to acquire the military titles his father held. That would indicate he faced resistance from the military in succeeding his father. They sure ain't gonna accept his son.

Kim Jong-Il is a typical first generation communist brat who inherited his revolutionary privileges rather than earning them. I assume he served in the North Korean Army but it was no doubt an easy tour of duty. He spent quite a while in East Germany "studying," a great privilege unavailable to the ordinary person.

The North Korean Army is considered professional. Officers who've defected to the South are an impressive bunch. One measure we use in assessing the quality of the armed forces of country X is whether villagers welcome troops into their community on the assumption they are there to help or whether they lock up all the women in an undisclosed location and keep their food supply hidden. That would be the case with the soldier-pillager. There are certainly armies which are little more than thugs in uniform. That's not the case with North Korea, however.

Appeasement will be tried at the behest of our weak president and will fail just as other more infamous appeasement attempts have failed in the past.

Shouldn't that be put in the past tense to describe GWB's deal with North Korea last November in which Pyongyang agreed to give up its nuclear program in exchange for being removed from Washington's state sponsors of terrorism list that has now collapsed?

i'm not sure if i could be any clearer about appeasement. if you want to single out GWB for his past sins go right ahead, but why stop there? Clinton's appeasement didn't work either. Both failed to contain NOKO and both are reminders that appeasing NOKO does not work.

i'm not sure if i could be any clearer about appeasement. if you want to single out GWB for his past sins go right ahead, but why stop there? Clinton's appeasement didn't work either. Both failed to contain NOKO and both are reminders that appeasing NOKO does not work.

In both cases outgoing administrations tried to "claim progress" by reaching some deal. That's a bad idea. Pyongyang knows full well the next administration may chart a different course. Yet Reagan and Thatcher were successful in negotiating with Gorbachev. As the Iron Lady said after their first meeting, "He's a man we can do business with." Many hawks disagreed. Yet they were right and it reflected an appreciation of the benefits of pursuing both tracks simultaneously rather than talking tough and then being forced to back down and negotiating out of weakness (which is what happened with GWB).

...and Bill Clinton and more than likely Barack Obama.

Bill Clinton's mistake was not talking tough but assuming the North Korean government would collapse like the rest of the communist world. It didn't.

Talking tough only works if you are prepared to back it up.

Norks have basically declared war by declaring they no longer recognize the '53 armistice.

It said Thursday through its official media that it was preparing for an American-led attack.

A page from Chavez's book. Which one is loonier?

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said a new resolution should be stronger than the one issued after the North’s first atomic test in October 2006 and contain sanctions.

Japan could be nuke-capable in a matter of weeks. I say it's time.

NOKO has declared the truce is dead and the war with South Korea is back on. If Kim is indeed serious, I hope Obama has what it takes to unite the world against this ever increasing dangerous situation.

Time is running out on dealing with this problem before it gets even more dangerous. Same can be said for Iran. Is our President and the Democrat majority up to the task or our we going to continue to hear excuses?

If and when North Korea gets rid of lil Kim, it may become a real civilized nation again.

As I said before, I suspect that China will not allow the little madman to go to far. China has waaaay to much to lose.

teleprompter at 01:13 PM JST - 29th May A page from Chavez's book. Which one is loonier?

By far lil Kim is the nuttier of the two. At least Chavez dresses better.....LOL

The United States doesn't have the troops to take on another military operation. So you can count us out.

That is perhapse one of the greatest underestimations of the U.S military I have heard on this site.

Now you better encourage Russia, China and maybe India to take them on. But we're not taking on anybody.

The idea of Russia taking on anything slighly larger than the Georgian Army is laughable, China has been anything but helpful when dealing with NK and India won't be sending anybody anywhere while the situation in Pakistan continues to go south.

TheQuestion at 06:38 AM JST - 31st May The United States doesn't have the troops to take on another military operation. So you can count us out. That is perhapse one of the greatest underestimations of the U.S military I have heard on this site.

I agree with you, it is real funny how people believe that we have no more troops to commit to any conflict.

The military has only committed 10-15% of it's assets to all the conflict zones we are in right now.