
America Seizes North Korean Ship, Citing Sanctions Violations - mises
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-seizes-north-korean-ship-11557420141
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scrape_it
seems to be a quite desperate time for north korea supposedly undergoing
another famine....how long can this tyranny last I wonder....

~~~
mises
I hope not too much longer, but I think the proximity to China and Russia will
prevent decent, republican government from winning out.

America had her chance to put North Korea back down for years, any time before
the acquisition of nukes. Officials from both sides were too cowardly, and
America allowed one more nation to get nuclear weapons. One more threat to her
citizens, and a completely irresponsible action by every politician.

~~~
wahern
What chance? The last time we tried China sent over a million soldiers. China
protects North Korea, and China has been a nuclear power with ICBMs since the
70s.

But for China we could probably sweep through North Korea faster than NK could
deploy a nuclear response, assuming they even have a viable weapon.

We could probably trade Taiwan for North Korea, but I doubt that's ever going
to happen. We could maybe get away with a promise to leave the Korean
Peninsula if they deposed the North Korean regime, but if China accepted that
it's because it would weaken U.S. alliances globally (having abandoned a
military ally) as well as puts them in a slightly better position to take
Taiwan by force. (Alternatively, we could phone Jinping at the very moment we
invade NK and promise him that we'll withdrawal all permanent forces, but
without formally ending our military alliance with South Korea. An ask for
forgiveness rather than permission approach.)[1]

I wouldn't underestimate China's commitment to North Korea. To the old guard
in the PLA the defense of North Korea is a pillar of their strategic posture
and a matter of honor. As they've died off (and they're not all dead, yet) new
leaders have found other reasons to remain committed to North Korea.

[1] With some decent planning I would think we could sufficiently blunt NK's
conventional retaliatory capabilities--i.e. the big guns pointed at Seoul.
Surely, with a couple of years preparation and sufficient commitment, we could
poise ourselves to track and target in real-time their artillery with a
massive coordinated strike.

