The new old war in Korea

[Jester]

Incredible tactics aren't even needed Jester. Just a minor understanding of war will allow someone to realize things that can be done to put the opponent off balance from a first strike. It doesn't take a military genius to come up with these things, what it does require however, is to pull off a precision timed assault.

The South Koreans have been preparing for this for every bit as long as the North has. While they lack the absolute paranoiac devotion to military-over-everything, they also have more than twice the population, and an economy at least ten times the size.

They have fortifications. They have guarded airfields all over the country, with reinforced bunkers for their equipment. They've surely gone through a bazillion wargames exercises, anticipating the "minor understanding of war" tactics. They watch the North Koreans vigilantly from orbit, from the ground, and presumably through intelligence, though we know little about that.

The easy tricks work in wars that people aren't really expecting. This is a war everyone is expecting. Both sides are amply prepared for dastardly tactics. That may mean the war turns into a meat grinder, but it's not going to be a rout because South Korea has no plan to deal with Seoul being bombarded, or their airstrips shelled, or chemical weapons being deployed, or whatever else. Insofar as "dirty tricks" can be anticipated, they surely have been, and prepared for.

A much better question seems to be whether North Korea has the flexibility to respond strategically, given its isolation and political rigidity. I suspect if their initial strike goes poorly, that their tactical playbook has just one play: "turtle."

-Jester