See here at The Diplomat for a summary of North Korea’s conventional military capabilities and the threat it poses to South Korea.
Now explain something to me. Why doesn’t South Korea act as though it faced that great a threat? Fatalism? They think, incorrectly, that the United States will keep them safe from attack?
The South is nonchalant about the North, because they know, possibly from secret communications, that they are not the target; the US and Japan are the targets.
To the North, the South is the great prize, to be highly desired and cherished. The North would never destroy Seoul. If the US attacked the North and a war broke out, the North might attempt to capture Seoul intact, with its people, industry, financial centers and government agencies. More likely, the South’s military might stand aside and let the US and the North fight it out. The South might even join the North’s war against the US.
Gordon Chang, an Asian expert, has repeatedly claimed that Moon is an anti-American and wishes to achieve unification with the North now.
The Trump-Kim negotiations and the recently ended SCO summit in Qingdao will go far to determine the future world order. The G7 is becoming irrelevant, which is why Trump is so dismissive of the G6.
For the same reason, I imagine, that Donald Trump’s poll numbers are on the rise. People are used to it. Our minds can’t stay in emergency mode indefinitely; it’s too expensive for our physiology, and once we’re exhausted, we rationalize reality as normal even when it’s not.
Is bob a parody poster and I’m not privy to the joke?
My guess is that geography plays a big part. When almost all of your people live within artillery range, what do you do?
Ben- Bob is not doing parody, but simply telling you what Trump supporters really believe. I get barraged with it every day. It helps to think of it as a cult. They really believe that Trump, and only Trump, can solve our problems. Remember that person in California who talked about Obama being so special and most of us laughed? With Trump this is broadly believed by his base.
Steve
@steve
[…] They really believe that Trump, and only Trump, can solve our problems. […]
What is known is that nobody has tried to solve the problems
They aren’t more worried because the threat is reduced compared to what it once was. 25 years ago the threat was the artillery plus DPRK tanks encircling and rolling into Seoul. It’s was a couple hundred thousand special forces infiltrating deep into South Korea to disrupt and terrorize. It was naval invasions along the coast, etc.
Now it’s just the artillery. Psychologically it seems much safer.
The nuke tests and the recent ICBM demonstrations were always aimed at an American audience. Plus South Koreans have become used to threats from the North, which, except for the threats, has been supine for 70 years. How many So. Koreans remember the war?. What they remember is a long cold war, and expect more of the same.
I believe the South Koreans and Japanese know how dangerous it could be — South Korea has conscription; and there’s no exceptions; celebrities are conscripted.
If the question is why South Korea and Japan don’t act like Israel vis a vis Iran, its part of the US security umbrella. Part of the deal is Japan / South Korea never do something that causes problems for the US; in return they get the mutual defense guarantee.
Now if the US were hit with the zombie apocalypse tomorrow; then its a different ballgame. Its a half-serious joke within 6 months, Japan and South Korea would have more nuclear bombs then North Korea. They certainly have the capability….
Which is another thing this summit hopefully prevents.
If NoKo’s idea of denuclearization is that we no longer cover SoKO and Japan with our nukes, I suspect that Japan would then want nukes. Not sure how China responds to that, or SoKo for that matter.
Steve