With rumblings of conflict coming from the Korean Peninsular , is the UN still a force to be called on in case of conflict , seeing as how technically the war never officially ended but is in a a 'Ceasefire' mode , and would British troops' be expected to support the R.O.K Government in time of war , as they did in the Early 50's ?
I think the UN in 1950 was a better organization than now. Truly, if it all went 'pear shaped' the UN will sit and twiddle its thumbs while Korea burns. So it will be the South and the US, with some support from Britain, Canada, maybe Australia and New Zealand. The real question would be how much help the Chinese or Russians would give this time round. Personally, I think the Northern harvest was so bad last year, they dont even have seed for this year.. big trouble for them, and they can see the benefits of playing hardball, cause Obama will cave in to whatever the North wants.. and right now, thats food. The non reaction of the South over losing her ship doesnt fill me with hope. With rumblings of conflict coming from the Korean Peninsular , is the UN still a force to be called on in case of conflict , seeing as how technically the war never officially ended but is in a a 'Ceasefire' mode , and would British troops' be expected to support the R.O.K Government in time of war , as they did in the Early 50's ?
Do you remember how much the German Reunification cost? Now imagine reunifying with a country in the Stone Age! Everyone is cringing at the thought the Hermit Kingdom implodes resulting in a humanitarian crisis like the world has never seen. Provided Kim Jong Il Duce dies quickly and the successors don't botch it!
Hi all.. ;o) I was just wondering about this situation myself. Quite frankly i'm a tad concerned about what would happen if the North and South Korean divide collided. I am STILL learning about all this war politics stuff. But have a couple of simple questions.. 1. Who do we like the best ? lol sorry i know it sounds thick but would we be supporting the South? are they the hard done by divide? Which would make the North the baddies. 2. If so and the North does attack the South, i know there is a UN and i know we may be called on to support.. BUT who would be on their side ? Who would be their allies?.. I suppose what i'm asking in my simple way lol.. Is... Could this be the start of ww3 ? This could be really bad news could it not ? rachel..;o) << please bear with me .. ;oP
Hi all.. ;o) I was just wondering about this situation myself. Quite frankly i'm a tad concerned about what would happen if the North and South Korean divide collided. I am STILL learning about all this war politics stuff. But have a couple of simple questions.. 1. Who do we like the best ? lol sorry i know it sounds thick but would we be supporting the South? are they the hard done by divide? Which would make the North the baddies. 2. If so and the North does attack the South, i know there is a UN and i know we may be called on to support.. BUT who would be on their side ? Who would be their allies?.. I suppose what i'm asking in my simple way lol.. Is... Could this be the start of ww3 ? This could be really bad news could it not ? rachel..;o) << please bear with me .. ;oP wow, a new mind to shape and bend to our will.. The South is the democratic one, bringers of Kia, Samsung, Hyundai, LG, couple others. The North are the "baddies".. Father to son dictatorship. They typically get help from China and Russia. Korea was divided at the end of WW2, along the 38th parallel. There was a war from 1950 to 1953, a cease fire was signed, but not a peace treaty. It is a real question if Russia would support North Korea if it got hot again. The Chinese are more obliged to help, if for no other reason than to prevent a couple million Korean refugees on its doorstep. WW3 ? Doubtful imo. The North uses threats and bluster to get what it wants, which is usually food aid from the West.. The tin pot dictators arent really any good at running the country. Right now, the North see the US as distracted ( Iraq and Afghanistan ), and weak ( Obama ). So they think they can get away with more by being extra loud. I would be far more worried about India and Pakistan.
Rachel, there are a number of names which will be everyday use to you and me, and many people in between, like Hyundai, LG, Samsung, Daewoo off the top of my head. Guess what, they are all Korean. More they are all South Korean. Out of the top ten shipbuilders all over the world, seven are South Korean. From North Korea what do we get? Rants and more requests for food assistance. Really, there is no comparison at all between the Southern modern, effective society and that sorry example that gave the expression 'basket case' a bad name up North. Here are a copule of primers: History of South Korea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia / History of North Korea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nobody will be very glad to lend a hand to that unbelievably distorted government, even their Chinese neighbours do all they can to avoid a collapse and an implosion which would create an humanitarian crisis like the world has never seen, right at China's doorstep.
wow, a new mind to shape and bend to our will.. The South is the democratic one, bringers of Kia, Samsung, Hyundai, LG, couple others. The North are the "baddies".. Father to son dictatorship. They typically get help from China and Russia. Korea was divided at the end of WW2, along the 38th parallel. There was a war from 1950 to 1953, a cease fire was signed, but not a peace treaty. It is a real question if Russia would support North Korea if it got hot again. The Chinese are more obliged to help, if for no other reason than to prevent a couple million Korean refugees on its doorstep. WW3 ? Doubtful imo. The North uses threats and bluster to get what it wants, which is usually food aid from the West.. The tin pot dictators arent really any good at running the country. Right now, the North see the US as distracted ( Iraq and Afghanistan ), and weak ( Obama ). So they think they can get away with more by being extra loud. I would be far more worried about India and Pakistan. The only thing holding back the US and his mates to invade NK is China. As soon as the Chinese give green light (they don't need a nuclear power in their ass), NK is likely to be shaved down by the US, SK and maybe even Japan (I'd buy a ticket to that!). Russia doesn't really care, because there isn't any political reason to support NK, since the economic coop is pretty low since the Russian transition. Otherwise you're totally right imo.
Thanks all. Thats a bit clearer now.. My dad fought in Korea in 1950/51.. I always wondered why it happened over there.. I've been engrossed in his earlier activities in Dunkirk and Normandy so far. I haven't got onto the Korean part of his service yet. So i'm guessing at the moment that he and the other servicemen were over there to help the South against the North? .. I'll read up on the Wilkipeadia stuff and find out a bit more. You've all put my mind at rest a bit though about there not moss rolling into ww3.. Cheers guys x Rachel.. LOL@ Martin.. a new mind to bend and shape.. Go for it.. It's like blancmange at the mo ;oP
Rachel, if you want a visual presentation on difference between South and North Korea look here This is satellite picture of Korean Peninsula at night. Shiny part is South Korea with Seoul area as it brightest spot. And dark area on the upper part of the picture is North Korea with its electricity restrictions.
Hey up Groundhugger, I missed this thread when I came back from France for some reason so appologies for the delay is the UN still a force to be called on in case of conflict No Two places: Rhwanda and Bosnia - The UN might aswell not have bothered turning up. When I was in Kosovo for 6 months one of the things that made me so angry was everday I went out of Slim Lines I drove past the UN compound full of brand new shiny vehicles of all catergories never driven with the personel (What few there was) sat around all day doing nothing - The organisation is a waste of money at grass roots level on the ground. I even know of Nigerian UN troops pimping the local girls in Sierra Leone down at the port quite a few years ago to make extra money. I could go on......
Flippin eck !! I cant see one part of light on the North side... Strict laws or what... They can't produce enough electrical power, so they introduced electrical restriction at night to all, except of course, government and army.
The only thing holding back the US and his mates to invade NK is China. As soon as the Chinese give green light (they don't need a nuclear power in their ass), NK is likely to be shaved down by the US, SK and maybe even Japan (I'd buy a ticket to that!). Russia doesn't really care, because there isn't any political reason to support NK, since the economic coop is pretty low since the Russian transition. Otherwise you're totally right imo. Ropi, no one in his right mind will want to invade the North. That implies taking over the chaos as it is now. You have to bear in mind that the country is gone completely down the gutter. There are refugees and defectors that manage to come over to the South, and they have to be interned by the state and looked after for years on, as they simply have no idea how does a 'normal' society work. And we are not talking here about individual cases, we're talking of integrating a 23,000,000 people who have to receive food aid to survive. Can you imagine the chaos ensuing from a war there? Can you feed those people? For how long? Can you get their economy working so they can at least reach survivability levels, not even thinking of comparing to the economical giant that their southern brothers are? Look at the German Federal Republic when they had to take over the GDR? They started from a much higher baseline and are still having trouble.
Are we talking about a backward society here ? I really had no idea how bad NK was.. So they can't make their own electric. Don't have enough food.. They can't trade with any other country for this to happen.. The people are under strict regime and the only 'normal' thing is them having a government... which actually sounds far from normal at all if they are letting their people live like this.. There is a lot i don't know obviously about the situation, but this isn't everyday conversation where i come from. I never see much on the news about it either and the only thing i heard recently to even get me thinking about NK was the fact that they had shot another ship down. Which then started my worries about it dominoe-ing further.. I really should read up on it.. very interesting convo ;o)
We are talking about a backward society with backwardness foisted into it by a tyrannical ruling clique, as compared to a democratical neighbour who simply blossomed.
We are talking about a backward society with backwardness foisted into it by a tyrannical ruling clique, as compared to a democratical neighbour who simply blossomed. Which also happens to field the 4th largest armed forces in the world, with around 1.2 million soldiers. 20% of men of military age, thats a lot to not contribute to the economy. No one wants NK to collapse quickly.. too much trouble.
Which also happens to field the 4th largest armed forces in the world, with around 1.2 million soldiers. 20% of men of military age, thats a lot to not contribute to the economy. Also they have the most heavily fortified border in the World.
Which also happens to field the 4th largest armed forces in the world, with around 1.2 million soldiers. 20% of men of military age, thats a lot to not contribute to the economy. No one wants NK to collapse quickly.. too much trouble. 4th largest? Will you be offended if I take that as a joke? Armies are no longer counted by raw numbers, look how the Iraqi army melted twice when it was invaded despite all of Saddam's bluster and all the "will roast their bellies in hell" drivel. Here's something better for you to read, even if somewhat outdated, but then the economy cascaded downhill even further. Rachel, I'd like to introduce you to my favourite dictator the Dear Leader link
Didn't see anything in your link to dispute the North's 4th place ranking in size. So please show me clearly where you would like to re-rank the DPRK. The Iraqi's didn't live in the ideological vacuum that the North does.
Again? I'm not contesting that in brute numbers the NK army ranks as 1st, 2nd or whatever. Saddam's Iraqi army was 5th IIRC and look how quick it took to wipe him off. This isn't the Franco-Prussian War any more. For a bit of relief: We Love the Iraqi Information Minister "God will roast their stomachs in hell at the hands of Iraqis."
