How sophisticated is DPRK’s defenses against our best missile technology?
One way to show the North Koreans how vulnerable they are would be to send a missile to downtown Pyongyang and level one of their military compounds or government buildings. I think that would rattle just about any country that considers itself militarily superior to everyone else.
I assume North Korea has a radar defense system to detect incoming missiles, but do they have the technology to knock one out of the sky? I’m talking about our best missile here. You can launch it however you want (Submarine, Plane, Land based). I’m not talking about a nuke, just a big old ballistic missile.
I realize there is the possibility that North Korea could launch an attack on South Korea as a result of dropping a missile on their Capital, but I’m willing to take that chance.
The US certainly has the capability to strike North Korea by many means that couldn’t be countered effectively, from stealth aircraft to cruise missiles to short-range ballistic missiles.
It is a profoundly incorrect belief to think that North Korea thinks it is militarily superior to the US. The whole premise of your scenario is wrong, to say nothing of the judgment on the risk of starting a massive war because someone dissed 'Merica.
If the North Koreans have no effective defences against US missiles, they are already perfectly aware of the fact. If what you want to demonstrate is the willingness of the US casually to unleash awesome destructive power merely to show that they can, why not have them drop their missile on Bigfork, Montana? I realise that somebody might get hurt, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take. And it’s less likely to start a war.
North Korea is the slightly paranoid bully of the neighborhood. They are constantly rattling their swords and intimidating their neighbors, and unlike Iran, they have been allowed to build nukes and even a missile-based delivery system.
The fact that they could delivery a nuke to downtown Tokyo makes everyone within striking range extremely nervous. I have been to South Korea and they live in constant fear of a massive attack, and it is wearing them down.
NK launched two missiles today that harmlessly landed in the sea. Had the missiles inadvertently landed in Seoul instead it could have triggered a hot war. Meanwhile they brainwash, isolate, imprison and starve their own population.
Maintaining the status quo means malnutrition and suffering for the masses and death to anyone who disagrees with the exhausted leader. The chance of a popular uprising seems incredibly low.
How can the West let an unstable egomaniac determine when the next nuclear war is going to start? How can this all turn out well for everyone involved?
Last time I checked Bigfork wasn’t threatening it’s neighbors and didn’t have any nukes. NK continues to build more nukes, and more sophisticated missiles.
If war breaks out on the Korean peninsula people will look back and wonder how the most powerful nation in the history of the world stood by and did nothing to stop it from happening.
Practically useless against American missiles. But South Korea might bear the economic/military brunt of DPRK retaliation for a U.S. strike in Pyongyang.
While the situation with regard to NK is immensely frustrating, and diverts much of our energy and resources, the alternative of going to war is far worse.
It is true that we have the military capability to reduce NK to a smoking crater. But what would that achieve?
Think of the effect of that on the regional geo-politics. In my opinion, the outcome would be worse than it is now; and would involve many worse players playing even more dirty than we have now.
Our current policy of “containment”, while obviously working very poorly, is the best choice amongst a lot of only very bad choices.
I, for one, would not be willing to shed my blood over there. I would not ask anyone else to do so either.
The US can’t even shoot down the US’s best missiles. We probably can’t shoot down our own worst missiles.
There’s no evidence they can do this. The nukes they’ve tested so far are big bulky things that couldn’t fit on any missile, and both their nukes and their missiles are extremely unreliable. They can, however, do a great deal of damage to Seoul using conventional artillery, which is enough to make anyone sane very nervous, even if they’re not in Seoul.
North Korea is indicting two Americans who they said were carrying out hostile acts against the country. I hate to think about what may happen to those Americans… but at least North Korea is contained.
You know, the US attacked a different country 11 years ago because the popular opinion at the time was that the deranged leader of that country was a ticking time bomb ready to use WMD against its neighbors.
I am pretty sure that South Korea could whip North Korea in a convention war, and I don’t think NK would be stupid enough to detonate a nuke in South Korea since they would soon be reduced to a smoldering crater.
Like most things, you really need to define what the goal is. Dropping a bomb on NK just to show you can is about the level of fight in a bar, when some drunk perceives an insult and starts to throw punches. It serves no useful purpose, and may end up messy.
NK is odd to say the least. Collectively they are insane. On a personal level I suspect there are a lot of smart people who have a good grasp of reality. But the political system they have descended into seems to be the ultimate fate of many totalitarian states (if not all). So they are very constrained in how they act, both politically, and for personal safety. Regimes that execute high ranking officials for disloyalty are not a place for bucking the status quo.
NK is has become very adept at trading off threats against concessions from the West. This does however require that they continue to maintain a set of credible threats, and further, act as if they are insane enough to really use them. They need the west to believe that they really would nuke Tokyo or Seoul if provoked.
But back to goals. The only useful end goal is the dismantling of the NK regime and re-integration with the south. This task makes the re-integration of East and West Germany look easy. But reminding the NK regime how vulnerable they are, and essentially calling their bluff of whether they nuke Tokyo, is not going to achieve it. Probably about the only viable option is what is being done. Containment and time. An ageing military elite is self limiting.
I guess I was hoping that a direct hit in the heart of their capital would break the magical hold the great leader has on the people. He can’t protect them from their enemies any more than I can.
As far as an aging military elite goes, aren’t they training their replacements as we speak?
Good for you, brave good sir ! I admire a man who’s willing to let some *other *man die for his convictions.
Wouldn’t work. Most of their military assets are squirrelled away in underground bunkers and tunnels they’ve been digging and reinforcing over the past 60 years. And we’re not talking Saddam’s cement bunkers under sand. Korea is all hard rock, all the time.
I mean, sure, SLAMs and Tomahawks could probably cripple Best Korea’s airfields as well as its many thriving metropolises and booming industrial centres.
It could not, however, harm much of its Screw South Korea Forever artillery positions and invasion assets. Not even talking nukes and WMDs here - there are quite literally a thousand guns pointed at the heart of Seoul at any given time, and god knows how many tunnels under the DMZ filled with old Soviet tanks and malnourished men.
And, sure, push comes to shove, that pitiful force would most probably be repulsed relatively quickly. But not before inflicting horrendous casualties on the South. I’m guessing the people of the South would rather avoid that , if that not too inconvenient to Glorious States of United America please thx kekekeke.
You are advocating that the US, which does have nukes in large numbers, should not merely threaten but actually attack other states. Why should Pyongyang suffer for the madness of the North Korean government, but Bigfoot not suffer for the madness of the US government?