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<p>Somehow, I doubt many Americans or Koreans would want to US troops there long term if the DPRK collapsed, since that would remove any reason for the US to have troops there.</p>
<p>What would be a bigger problem for the PRC if the DPRK collapses is the refugee dump into northeastern China, a problem that the PRC probably is not prepared to handle well.</p>
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<p>Koreans, agreed. Americans…not necessarily among some in Washington. </p>
<p>Especially the Korean peninsula is a key strategic area geopolitically not only vis a vis China, but also Russia if/when it is perceived to be necessary. </p>
<p>It is also a good way for the US to continue to act as a check against potential moves by Russian, Korean, and Chinese nationalists* against Japan considering there’s territorial disputes between the former three versus the latter over territories which were part of Japan’s colonialist legacy. </p>
<p>Not to mention the US can use the Korean territorial dispute over some lands in the Chinese NE…some of which were said to be part of an ancient Korean empire from more than a millennium ago to keep the Mainland Chinese off-balance geopolitically if they are so inclined. </p>
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<li>Russia: Southern Sakhalin & Kurile Islands, Koreas: Dokdo/Takeshima Island, Chinas: Diaoyu/Senkaku islands.</li>
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<p>Todays Headline</p>
<p>[CNN.com</a> - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/]CNN.com”>http://www.cnn.com/)</p>
<p>I don’t know why someone up thread said Fox is the only one heavily covering this. It’s been on the front page of CNN for quite a few weeks. Maybe not the giant headline, but definitely the front page.</p>
<p>I’m seriously impressed by all the knowledge some of you have. Seriously.</p>
<p>It’s always a concern when someone with a hair-trigger finger on a nuke starts saber rattling. While the missile delivery system is not capable of reaching the continental US, NK can still inflict considerable damage if Kim Jong Un decides to make his threats credible. There is some speculation that he is using these threats to establish internal credibility with his military leaders, as well as to draw the focus away from the economic problems and food shortages within NK. The escalating rhetoric may be intended for internal audiences as well as international audiences. But I believe it is being taken quite seriously in Washington.</p>
<p>Cobrat, do you have a history degree or work in international business? Your knowledge of history is immense. I’ve seen your posts before on historical perspectives and you really seem to have a vast education in world history. Quite impressive.</p>
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<p>Only if it’s impossible for North Koreans to get to South Korea. I’m sure every North Korean would prefer going to South Korea over China. And South Korea has been preparing for reunification for decades.</p>
<p>China within a few hundred miles of the NK border already has a LOT of North Koreans who have escaped. Some settle there for good, but many prefer to make their way to SK.</p>
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No it hasn’t.</p>
<p>PRC’s dirty secret is that it would prefer to maintain the status quo and postpone reunification indefinitely. </p>
<p>Estimates by the World Bank, thinktanks & banks put the cost of Korean reunification at 2-5 trillion USD over a decade. During German reunification, the per capita income of Ossies was one quarter of that of Wessies; and there were only a quarter as many Ossies as Wessies. For Korea, the per capita income of the North is about one twentieth that of the South; and there are half as many DPRK’s as PRC’s.</p>
<p>Then there is the social chasm. The young generation in PRC have no memories of the War. And a great many PRC’s feel contempt rather than sympathy for their countrymen to the North.
[South</a> Korea?s young people are wary of unification - Washington Post](<a href=“http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-17/world/35276668_1_unification-president-lee-myung-bak-north-korea]South”>http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-17/world/35276668_1_unification-president-lee-myung-bak-north-korea)</p>
<p>@cobrat,
Don’t assume that other countries in the region are, by default, siding with China because of WWII tension with Japan. Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei & Vietnam are also pushing back against China in the Spratly’s</p>
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<p>And again, you’re oversimplifying the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands dispute as being between two parties…not three. </p>
<p>Moreover, while most of those countries may not support the Mainland’s claim due to the dispute in the Spratlys and other considerations, it also doesn’t necessarily follow that they support Japan’s either. </p>
<p>FYI, the ROC(Taiwan) as the “other China” also claims the Diaoyu islands in their own right separate from the Mainland’s claim. </p>
<p>There’s also the factor many Australians and New Zealanders…especially those sympathetic to viewpoints of those who remembered WWII tend to feel that the Japanese position is simply an attempt to hold on to a remnant of a militaristic colonialist empire which should have been completely dismantled at the end of WWII.</p>
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<p>Yes, I know that Taiwan is party to the Diaoyu dispute. I was also trying to make the point that it does not necessarily follow that other countries will support a particular country because of lingering WWII rancor. Politics (and the tease of fishing rights & offshore oil) make for strange bedfellows…</p>
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<p>Wrong. South Korea actually has a reunification ministry formed in the late 1960s and both governments publicly stated then to support a reunification in the future and did so again in 2000. </p>
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<p>For starters, NK has an incredible amount of untapped natural resources in minerals, valued at at least $6 trillion. Sure, the economic cost is heavy, but easily alleviated by fully exploiting NK’s mineral resources with even f money left over. Not to mention South Korea, as a high-tech manufacturing haven, would benefit greatly and long term from North Korea’s rare earth resources.</p>
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<p>“PRC” is the People’s Republic of China yet you quote an article on South Korean opinion. Currently, South Korea is the Republic of Korea, I’m not sure what you mean by “PRC” in this post.</p>
<p>brain fart. I meant ROK, not PRC.</p>
<p>I was referring to money. I am aware that SKorea legislature proposed a reunification tax a couple of year ago, I don’t know whether it was ever approved.</p>
<p><a href=“Buy Steroids Online - Steroids For Sale in USA”>Buy Steroids Online - Steroids For Sale in USA;
<p>Friend of mine who is currently living in S. Korea posted this to FB yesterday - seems like a good place to share it!</p>
<p>"This is a good explanation of the current climate to family & friends that are concerned about the threats from North Korea to South Korea.</p>
<p>Dear friends around the world,
Every spring, South Korea and The US run military exercises together. At the beginning of every spring, North Korea answers this drill by threatening to blow things up. EVERY SPRING…for the 5 years that I’ve been here! Their people are starving, and bombs don’t feed them as well as the Chinese who give them money at the end every spring to shut up and stop threatening people. Keeping in mind that the Korean peninsula is about the size of Maine, and the North could not nuke the South without killing themselves, life in South Korea is perfectly normal and no one here is concerned."</p>
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That isn’t what I said. I didn’t say they were the ‘only’ ones covering it - just that they were prominently covering it as the lead story (not just a line item somewhere down the stack like some other companies like CNN).</p>
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<p>Belligerent warmongering nationalism is a typical staple of politicians in any country who are trying to get more domestic political support, or distract people away from their domestic failings.</p>
<p>Of course, belligerent warmongering nationalism in one country tend to cause people in other countries to fear that the first country is about to make war on them, increasing the political gains for belligerent warmongering nationalism in the second country.</p>
<p>As a stalwart American defending freedom across the world, I personally believe that their new leader, Kim Jong Un, is purposely nullifying the war treaty to show the world what he is capable of, at least my speculation is. </p>
<p>The United States economy is so heavily tied with the Chinese that it is pragmatically impossible for the Chinese to advocate such actions, because China has been their “guardian angel”. </p>
<p>Should North Korea decide to further enhance their degree of threat or impose foolish actions against S.Korea or US, we will take serious counter measure to decimate them once and for all. </p>
<p>Sent from my SPH-L710 using CC</p>
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<p>It’s not a treaty; it’s an armistice. North and South Korea are still technically at war.</p>