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South Korean Paper Reports China Has Deployed 150,000 Troops To North Korea Border

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Iksenpets

Banned
This seems like a pretty reasonable precaution against the slim chance Trump goes nuts and tries to carry out a decapitation strike on NK. And I doubt NK has the capacity to do much about it, with most of their forces stationed on the southern border.
 
V

Vilix

Unconfirmed Member
This. However large their military is, they're poorly trained, poorly equipped, poorly maintained. But I imagine the biggest question is whether they're actually loyal to the Kim regime or just in fear of it. If war were to break out in North Korea I would imagine a not-insignificant number of North Korean soldiers laying down their arms/defecting.

If you go into YouTube look up North Korea documentary, and watch the videos that come up, you might change your mind.
 

Ac30

Member
Inbred? What?

NK has attempted to scrap their nuclear weapon programme twice under mutual agreement with the US. It's the US that then tears up these agreements after an election and continues huge, multi-million dollar exercises with South Korea simulating attacking NK outposts. If anything, it's the US' complete instability and inconsistency between the two parties that prevents any sort of lasting peace or normalisation of relations.

Case in point: the agreement with Iran.

The North has conducts exercises constantly and has attacked the south directly, like the shelling of Yeonpyeong. As for the US tearing up treaties, North Korea has repeatedly violated them by, among other things, refusing access to inspectors and conducting nuclear tests. They had no interest in being transparent:

http://www.economist.com/node/12791910
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/agreedframework

You can't normalize relations with the North Korea - their entire regime rests on their hatred of the west/SK/everyone else. It's the living embodiment of "We have always been at war with Eurasia". They also have no interest in disarmament as they know they can hang with the big boys when they acquire ICBMs.
 

Laieon

Member
I've been living about 30 minutes south of Seoul for the past 3 years. Seems like every year there's a big scare that gets attention internationally, but here everyone continues like nothing is happening, just a regular day as usual and they always end up being right. Hell, I was feeling the same even just a few days ago.

This time nobody is freaking out and it is just a normal day, but something feels different. Hope I'm wrong.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I've been living about 30 minutes south of Seoul for the past 3 years. Seems like every year there's a big scare that gets attention internationally, but here everyone continues like nothing is happening, just a regular day as usual and they always end up being right. Hell, I was feeling the same even just a few days ago.

This time nobody is freaking out and it is just a normal day, but something feels different. Hope I'm wrong.

didn't this happen before
The thing is that eventually it will turn out to be "something", because NK is getting closer and closer to being able to launch a nuke that could hit the US mainland.

That's the logic Trump is being presented with: that a first strike on NK might actually be seen as increasingly rational, given the alternative of doing nothing and waiting until it's too late. I think that's genuinely frightening, especially considering that Mr. America First might indeed see stability in Korea as less important than warding off any threat to the USA.

Of course it could be just the yearly "NK and the West posture" nonsense. I've watched a million of these before so I know the "here we go again..." feeling.... but like so many things in the world over the last year, circumstances are rapidly evolving.

I also want to say that the least reliable barometer of this being a real threat is whether South Koreans are freaking out or not. Every once and awhile a Korean will say "the international media is freaking out about this, but no one in SK is alarmed!" (implying that Koreans would know better). Well, S Koreans have been used to thinking of NK as "no big deal" as a coping mechanism for decades. The lack of alarm in the populace means nothing really. It's a habitual response to handwave away NK.
 

Two Words

Member
UxK5qI6.jpg
 

mandiller

Member
China wants stability above all else. If US bombs North Korea then Chinese troops will come in and try and be a peacekeeping force/take over would be my guess. US can't bomb Chinese troops.
 

SiteSeer

Member
china invades from the north. waits for nk to turn their guns around and fire on the invaders. a back room deal with us/sk sees usaf/usn air raid on nk guns and removes nk retaliatory capability on sk/jp. nk military collapses. china occupies nk to prevent us/sk take over, but sk/jp safe from mad man dictator. ongoing negotiations for reunification, but china rejects a us ally on its border, possible deal to withdraw us bases in sk to jp or deactivate leading to complete reunification.
 

legend166

Member
Inbred? What?

NK has attempted to scrap their nuclear weapon programme twice under mutual agreement with the US. It's the US that then tears up these agreements after an election and continues huge, multi-million dollar exercises with South Korea simulating attacking NK outposts. If anything, it's the US' complete instability and inconsistency between the two parties that prevents any sort of lasting peace or normalisation of relations.

Case in point: the agreement with Iran.

Man, wasn't expecting to see a North Korea defence force of all things.
 
Man, wasn't expecting to see a North Korea defence force of all things.

Not to toot my own horn, but I've been reading about NK for years and look for more sources than the clickbait headlines that are printed every few weeks by all the tabloids.

Please explain why the facts I've presented are incorrect instead of strawmanning me as a worthless tankie.
EDIT: I know a few tankies that genuinely see the Kim family line as the "rightful heirs of the Korean peninsula", they use their full titles and everything. It's a mixture of Soviet-era and East Asian fetishising that is incredibly creepy and historically revisionist. However, it's not revisionist to have some nuance in one's approach, and not generalising 24 million people as "brainwashed fanatics with an inbred leader". Just FYI.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Couldn't China just cut their imports/exports to North Korea?

Speaking of that...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-northkorea-coal-exclusive-idUSKBN17D0D8

Exclusive: North Korean ships head home after China orders coal returned

Following repeated missile tests that drew international criticism, China banned all imports of North Korean coal on Feb. 26, cutting off the country's most important export product.

To curb coal traffic between the two countries, China's customs department issued an official order on April 7 telling trading companies to return their North Korean coal cargoes, said three trading sources with direct knowledge of the order.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were discussing North Korea at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on April 7.

Shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon, a financial information and analytics platform, shows a dozen cargo ships on their way to North Korea's main west coast port of Nampo, almost all carrying cargoes from China.

The Trump administration has been pressuring China to do more to rein in North Korea, which sends the vast majority of its exports to its giant neighbor across the Yellow Sea.

...

As a U.S. Navy strike group headed to the region in a show of force, China and South Korea agreed on Monday to slap tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests, a senior official in Seoul said.

North Korea is a significant supplier of coal to China, especially of the type used for steel making, known as coking coal.

To make up for the shortfall from North Korea, China has ramped up imports from the United States in an unexpected boon for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has declared he wants to revive his country's struggling coal sector.

Eikon data shows no U.S. coking coal was exported to China between late 2014 and 2016, but shipments soared to over 400,000 tonnes by late February.
 

vonStirlitz

Unconfirmed Member
I find this fascinating. It is still unclear to me whether this is a concerted signalling/posturing move against NK or real preparatory movements from both sides.

The actual situation is all linked to the timing. If you look at it, the US strafed Syria just after Xi had landed in the US and was dining with Trump. That strike wasn't just a stand down notice to Assad, or a press deflection move from Trump, or a warning to the NK fat boy, but was a wake up call to the PRC. Not only was it a huge protocol issue, but Xi must have been taken off guard and/or angry. Plus it establishes US seriousness about acting and unpredictability at a time when discussing NK. It was a posturing move and designed to fluster the traditionally cautious and strategic PRC.

I reckon it either led to the PRC rushing troops North in preparation, or it brought Xi to the negotiating table. Either the PRC have a reasonable expectation of US action, or they are in on the game and it is designed (along with the US carrier movements) to spook NK and get them in line.

Aside from the timing of the Syria strike and Xi/Trump meeting, the timing of troop movements is interesting. By some accounts, the PRC were redeploying on the 7th whereas the US fleet only moved from Singapore on the 9th. That would suggest the PRC are either aiming to act first, acting in expectation of US action and redeploying early (assuming Trump took a convincing hardline in his chat with Xi) or it is concerted.

Oh yeah. PRC head for Korean affairs flew into Seoul for unexpected talks on Monday and Trump called the SK Prem last night.

Shit going down.

I have no idea. Just throwing some thoughts out there. All this sudden activity is very interesting though.
 
Can't we just fly some kind of optical camouflaged drone through Kim Jong Uns head?

You gottah chop the head of the snake off not cut the tail.
 
Can't we just fly some kind of optical camouflaged drone through Kim Jong Uns head?

You gottah chop the head of the snake off not cut the tail.

Yeah no, a general would just take his place. You'd need to deal with the whole party and the brainwashing culture (yes I'm aware the idolization of the party leader is waning).
 

Mr Swine

Banned
I don't think anything will happen and I don't know if NK likes to be bullied around by China now that they have nukes.

But if USA where to strike NK, would it be with a nuke or just missiles/Artillery?
 

vonStirlitz

Unconfirmed Member
I don't think anything will happen and I don't know if NK likes to be bullied around by China now that they have nukes.

But if USA where to strike NK, would it be with a nuke or just missiles/Artillery?
It would never be with a nuke. Political fallout would be bad. Terrible precedent.

I don't think it's a credible threat. Carrier strike group probably only has about 400 missiles (I am happy to be corrected). Only useful for a decapitation. You would need more ordinance to neutralise multiple sites and that fuckton of artillery on the border. I reckon it's just posturing.
 

enewtabie

Member
So give or take a day or so the Carrier group arrives in time for the big NK celebration. Nice timing. Think the US shoots down one of the missiles that NK will undoubtedly fire off as a warning? There's like 3 Aegis ships in that group. Group is too small for any major attack or anything.
 

vonStirlitz

Unconfirmed Member
So give or take a day or so the Carrier group arrives in time for the big NK celebration. Nice timing. Think the US shoots down one of the missiles that NK will undoubtedly fire off as a warning? There's like 3 Aegis ships in that group. Group is too small for any major attack or anything.
I did wonder if they were thinking of that. Ballsy and high risk. Looks bad if it doesn't work. Unpredictable outcome. But if it does work it gives a real reason for THAAD to be deployed in SK. Particularly as the Koreans getting a lot of PRC economic heat to drop it.
 
Okay... that doesn't sound too good. It is like Trump is really itching to attack the NK.

Actually it sounds good. We need China as an ally, not an enemy. Trump is crudely saying China can either help us deal with Nkorea or they can sit back and watch. But, a unified Korea is a better deal for them.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Actually it sounds good. We need China as an ally, not an enemy. Trump is crudely saying China can either help us deal with Nkorea or they can sit back and watch. But, a unified Korea is a better deal for them.

It doesn't sound good because it sounds like Trump has twitchy trigger finger.

If China puts actual pressure on the NK, that sounds good. But the way Trump phrases it... it doesn't.

Besides, Trump sounds like an idiot in the latter tweet. Pretty sure everyone is aware that better relations lead to better deals, doesn't need saying out loud.
 

FStubbs

Member
I've been living about 30 minutes south of Seoul for the past 3 years. Seems like every year there's a big scare that gets attention internationally, but here everyone continues like nothing is happening, just a regular day as usual and they always end up being right. Hell, I was feeling the same even just a few days ago.

This time nobody is freaking out and it is just a normal day, but something feels different. Hope I'm wrong.

The difference is North Korea isn't the only player being run by a madman anymore.
 
China probably doesn't want an unrestrained and unpredictable nuclear capable North Korea right at their doorstep as much as South Korea and the US. My guess is that at one point their stance towards NK changed as they see them increasingly unpredictable.
China probably wants to deal with the issue on their terms than let the US get more influence in the area.
Yeah, China stopped coal imports from North Korea a couple of months ago. Sounds like China is getting fed up with the Kims
 
Actually it sounds good. We need China as an ally, not an enemy. Trump is crudely saying China can either help us deal with Nkorea or they can sit back and watch. But, a unified Korea is a better deal for them.

China spilled a lot of blood for a buffer state from Western allies. They will do so keep it that way.

Big problem is N. Korean masses, no one wants to take on the millions of starving and essentially brainwashed people. Also a country with very little infrastructure that will need immediate modernization.
 

trembli0s

Member
Actually it sounds good. We need China as an ally, not an enemy. Trump is crudely saying China can either help us deal with Nkorea or they can sit back and watch. But, a unified Korea is a better deal for them.

Yeah, this is a pretty big deal. On some level it's interesting that the Chinese seem more amenable to dealing with Trump than they did with Obama.

Obviously, they're sick of Un's actions but that's been the case for a while. Perhaps the missile strike sent a firm signal and coupled with the Xi talks have led to increased cooperation. The fact that China is going to replace the shortfall with American coal is a huge short term win for Trump.
 
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