WI: Second Korean War in Early 1990s

Delta Force

Banned
I've studied the 1994 Korea Crisis from the perspective of nuclear proliferation concerns, and wrote a paper on it as well. I'm not sure how interested you are in the proliferation politics though.
 

Napoleon IV

There are a lot of casualties due to North Korea's supplies of conventional and chemical weapons. The disruption of aid from the Soviet Union and the destruction of North Korea's infrastructure and farming problems would cause a famine that leads to massive casualties. Many North Koreans, inspired by their ideology and fear of being occupied by the hated South Koreans and Americans, fight to the death. Assuming that China doesn't intervene North Korea is destroyed and the leaders go on trial for crimes against humanity or go into hiding/exile in China.
 
modelcitizen

modelcitizen

North Korea to my knowledge has ludicrous amounts of artillery aimed at Seoul.

The body-count will be ludicrous.

The force expended on North Korea to protect Seoul will be nothing short of... I'm trying to find a word that's not as celebratory as epic... astounding.

The traffic of evacuees from Seoul will be on live television all around the world, and a number of them will die while we watch with horror.

The truth revealed about North Korea after its abject destruction will be at least as bad as we think. There will be labs with human research subjects.

Heart-rending poems will be written, halting heart-broken songs will be sung.
 
Jape

Jape

modelcitizen said:
North Korea to my knowledge has ludicrous amounts of artillery aimed at Seoul.

The body-count will be ludicrous.
Click to expand...

The only way you'd see an allied 'Desert Storm' style offensive against North Korea is if these batteries can be knocked out swiftly. It would require air strikes on a scale unseen since Vietnam because South Korea and anyone linked into the global economy will not want to see Seoul go up in flames.

If this could be pulled off and an attack commence, it would be truly horrific in general and I imagine the North Koreans would suffer quite a few 'Valley of Death' style slaughters.
 

mlp

NK had no territorial ambitions, unlike Iraq. Well, except South Korea. And it was going through the transition of changing policy from "military reunification" to "governmental survival". So this is an interesting point to note.
They also had absolutely no wish to be wiped out(which was becoming imminent by the month as the Communist bloc fell apart). If they used artillery it would be for diplomatic leverage, which I doubt would have been necessary during the time. Only if they severely miscalculated the diplomatic situation of South Korea and believed war to be very imminent would NK launch a full-flung war using all weapons at hand, for the "final war."
And that final war would be the bloodiest war per hour the world had ever seen for decades. Remember, the greater Seoul area has almost 50% of the population of South Korea.

Watch this video - it will now seem less of a wild verbal assault. Original "sea of flames" statement by NK, 1994.

...
NK: Seoul is not far from here. When there is war it will become a sea of flames.
SK: Are you-
NK: You, ambassador, may also perish.
SK: No, No, wait-
NK: Stop. (hand gesture)
SK: No, do you really think-
NK: Therefore, [South Korea] should-
SK: No, do you think we're going to sit idle?
NK: Well. About this issue-
SK: [flustered fast talk]
NK: -South Korea must ponder the conseqences.
SK: Are you declaring war?
NK: We say, you have declared war on us. Your incapability of listening-
SK: So, retaliating war with war?
...
Click to expand...
 

sharlin

Banned
The whole thing about the NK's having a LOT of guns pointed at Seoul is that 3/4 of them if not more simply can't reach the city proper. They've got some long range 170mm guns that can JUST reach the city and thats using a rocket assisted shell which does terribad things for muzzle life.

In the early 90s they'd also have less MLRS like rocket launchers that could reach the city too (they've apparently imported some from Russia as it collapsed). Whilst they do have SCUD and FROG rockets they are basically V2's modernised. They are not accurate weapons in any degree unless you seriously upgrade them and fit them with satallite navigation etc which the NK's don't have.

What their other guns can do is hit the suburbs and the towns closer but their firing positions are largely known and despite NK camo they can't counter SK and US/NATO counter battery radars etc.

The NK air force is a joke its got a dozen (IIRC) MiG-29's but the rest are MiG 15, 17, and 19's or Chinese made knock offs most of whom do not fly purely for lack of parts.

Their air defence systems are again a joke. SA-2's and SA-3s at the most, maybe some SA-6s but their main defence is AAA batteries which most jets are largely immune to unless at low altitude.

A war against North Korea would be Desert Storm writ large, but with far more civilian casualties at the onset due to the artillery the NK's can rain down on the northern part of South Korea as well as the odd inaccurate rocket barrage and maybe 2 dozen guns that can reach it.

Once those are knocked out, out of ammo (in the SCUD/FROG case) then it would be over save the shouting. In this case the shouting is a LOT of gunfire. The North can't win any conventional war at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top