Replies

He pressed the brass to move the U.S. 8th Army's golf course out of downtown Seoul, a source of anger for residents of the capital. "We finally got it moved," he recalls. "But it was no picnic."

This rereminds me a lot of the Philippines in 1941. Our 36,000 troops, mostly support, would be like a speed-bump to a bulldozer.

We've been there 50 years! We just rotate our people in and out.

Plan 5027... HA! 5 army and 2 Marine divisions?! Yea right... how long did it take us to get our forces set up for Iraq?

These forces do not exist! Move the golf course and just wait for that throaty sound of 11,000 NK tubes and over 1000 tanks.

ROK forces will behave like ARVN...

Re #2

The artillery tubes can do a lot of damage. But as for 1,000 tanks, they are not really useful unless they can drive on mountains.:) There are only a few approach roads to Seoul. Only the tiny fraction of them need to be blown up to block the advance of N. Korean troops. And there are other obstacle courses ready for N. Korea troops. They have to first pass through crowded commuter towns. Street battle will ensue in those towns where defenders can pick off advancing troops behind numerous conrete buildings in the area.

The NKPA is at best a sit & shoot thing now. The ROKA can take 'em without our help. IMO the ROKA would be on the Yalu in about two months without us and in six weeks with us. It would have taken a lot longer five years ago but the whole country has fallen apart.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/836745/posts?page=109#109

To: Thud
"NK refugee comments about ordinary soldiers having lost discipline, i.e., acting like thieves, indicates that the rot has spread from the top to the ranks."

An inherent problem of running a corrupt state, is that corruption has to be restricted to very limited number of people. This is for two reasons:
- A widely corrupt state is an ineffecient one, and the damage expands geometrically every time it drops a level. There is a huge difference between a few people skimming some off the top and everyone and their brother taking a cut. Once people realize that their supervisors are corrupt, and they can get in the act, they will. Anyone with anything to offer will start to cut deals.
- A widely corrupt state is breeds intrigue, deception, and paranoia. People who risk their lives to cut deals will make sure that their tracks are covered, and that the books are well cooked. Every time that information changes hands, it may change substantially, to reflect the needs of whoever is passing it. This means that high level officials have no reassurance that they know what the real situation is, or who they can really trust. The real economy and centers of power exist off-line; the official line is an obstacle, not to be used except as required.
As the corrupt leaders of North Korea have sown, so shall they reap; a nation rotten to the core, with schemers, liars, and opportunists at every level.
109 posted on 02/05/2003 4:53 PM PST by Steel Wolf

The big question is whether the NPKA still has the capability of smoking Seoul with artillery. I think it does, but a reasonable argument can be made that they don't anymore.