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

Thursday 28th May, 03:30 PM JST

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30061015 at 06:39 AM JST - 29th May

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.
Farmboy at 06:46 AM JST - 29th May

Troop Strength

From http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/dprk/2009/dprk-090527-voa02.htm quoting Kim Tae Woo*

Kim says North Korea has long maintained one of the largest armies in the world - with more than one million active-duty troops.

"So, when we consider the total size of North Korean population, slightly over 20 million, North Korea has over seven million regular troops and reserve forces," Kim said. "This is the reason why they call North Korea a barracks country."
OssanAmerica at 07:01 AM JST - 29th May

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.
Kwaabish at 09:54 AM JST - 29th May

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?)
Betzee at 11:10 AM JST - 29th May

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.
Betzee at 11:21 AM JST - 29th May

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?
VOR at 12:20 PM JST - 29th May

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.
Betzee at 12:28 PM JST - 29th May

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).
VOR at 12:39 PM JST - 29th May

...and Bill Clinton and more than likely Barack Obama.
Betzee at 12:52 PM JST - 29th May

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.
teleprompter at 01:13 PM JST - 29th May

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.
VOR at 11:31 PM JST - 29th May

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?
JoeBigs at 07:53 PM JST - 30th May

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
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.

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.
JoeBigs at 08:13 AM JST - 31st May

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.