N.Korea, Will it come to blows with the U.S.?

Remove all ads!

U.S. war ships are moving to Japan. Do you think N. korea will keep firing missles now? And if they do wil the U.S. respond?

 

I doubt US will want to take any military action against North Korea and frankly I don't find any reason to do so. North Korea has obviously been watching the way west is dealing with Iran and with these missile tests they are probably seeking to get a better deal. Kim Yong Il is not stupid and if he has nukes he'll never use them against the US knowing that it will be the end of North Korea.

 

Well, while the North Korean Army isn't nearly as technologically advanced as the U.S., it is absolutely HUGE. North Korea has mandatory military service for all males (not a draft - everyone who is capable of serving must do so for at least 2 years). As a result they have a standing army of 1 million troops. That's signifcantly larger than the U.S. standing army, unless you start taking reservists into account.

 

We have a treaty to honor. There has always been a carrier battlegroup within 48 hours of South Korea -- that is why we have a battlegroup (and then some) homeported in Yokosuka Japan. We already have one carrier in place, along with a communications command ship, several destroyers, cruisers and various support ships. The Japanese forces are quite formidable and can easily defend their country from the North Koreans.

It is extremely unlikely an Aegis class ship (or any ship for that matter) could shoot down high trajectory missile coming from North Korea. Nuclear missiles tend to fly far above the maximum altitude for even the SN-2 missiles carried on US ships. You can only hit them at launch (which would be an act of war).

The additional ships are simply icing on the cake. Most likely the ships represent a significant retaliatory strike capability by having a heavy compliment of Tomahawks in their missile loading. It's called 'rattling the sword.'

Aldeth, Iraq had the second largest army in the world when we attacked them.

 

I don't think they'll start anything right now. North-Korea has no interests, or means, on seriously stepping on USA's toes and USA's forces would be spread a little too thin for at least 'boots on the ground' -kinds of operations, what with the situation in Irak and everything. The enlisting rates in the USA aren't that good either currently.

But who knows, really. Wouldn't be the first stupid, or at least questionable military operation that's been embarked on in recent history. Threatening with military force might be a different matter, but I wouldn't expect too good results coming from that either.

edit: And it wouldn't be too good PR stunt either on USA's side, even as the forces are probably sufficient. But if the North Korean's are stupid enough to try something funny, then a military response might be required of course.

 

Even with a massive ground force, a large percentage of that would be wiped out from airstikes by the US. Even if they do put up some resistance, Australia, England, and New Zealand would be on there asses. The might have a few ICBM's, but the overall technology is well below what the US uses.

As a side note, Kim Yong Il is great at talking himself up so firing a few missiles into the sea will porobably be all it will escalate to. For Gods sake, the man thinks that he is the best golf player in the world, being able to get -38. If that is talking yourself up without proof, I dunno what is.