The new old war in Korea

[TheDragoon]

In essence, you've been comparing apples and pineapples.

I generally agree with what Jester is saying though I don't disagree that the North Koreans are probably making the most of their money by getting equipment and whatnot from allies on the cheap which could distort how advanced they might be. However, AT THE ABSOLUTE BEST for North Korea, they could be considered South Korea's equal. Based upon that assumption (which is a major reach, in my opinion) I just can't see North Korea being able to make any push at all into South Korea. Assuming all things being equal they would just continue to lob rockets and artillery at each other while fighting around near the DMZ until such time as US forces could be brought in to heavily turn the tide against North Korea. Heck, even in the Iraq war the US took several weeks to make it to Baghdad despite the fact that the Iraqis were completely out-classed. I would have a hard time believing the North Koreans could do better.

The only thing that could possibly result in anything you describe, Lissa, is if the North Koreans somehow managed to launch a blitzkrieg campaign that completely surprises South Korea AND the US. As Jester notes, that is extremely unlikely given how many ways South Korea and the US can watch the Korean forces moving within the country. If North Korea ever started building up for a major attack, there's probably greater than a 99% chance that South Korea or the US would know something was going on in advance and they could prepare. In that case, it is not unreasonable that opposition forces would be mobilized almost immediately from staged locations nearby, resulting in the sort of rout Jester has been predicting.