What is the point of having troops and military bases in South Korea?
The reason I ask is because North Korea is not a threat. North Korea’s million-man army may look impressive on paper, but remember that Iraq had a million-man army, which also had modern equipment, combat experience, and plenty of fuel. In contrast, North Korean soldiers suffer from malnutrition and rarely train due to a scarcity of fuel and ammo. Most North Korean soldiers could not attack because they are needed to defend the entire DMZ and coastal approaches (they remember the 1950 landing at Inchon) while entire divisions must remain throughout North Korea to fend off heliborne offensives, food riots, and probable coups On the other hand, the entire 700,000 man South Korean active duty army can be devoted to the defense of Seoul. The modern South Korean army is backed by over 5,000,000 well-trained reservists who can be called to duty in hours. South Korea has twice the population of the North, thirty times its economic power, and spends three times more on its military each year. South Korean military equipment is first class whereas most of the North Korean military equipment is over 30 years old and much is inoperable due to a lack of maintenance. If war broke out, South Korea has a massive industrial capacity and $94 billion in foreign currency reserves to sustain a war, while North Korea has no industry and no money. As a result, South Korea is roughly five times more powerful than North Korea. South Korea could crush North Korea in a war without our help. North Korea's military equipment that date back to the 1950,60,70s,80s which are Soviet obsolete weapons system that are not properly maintained. North Korea is unstable and could commit suicide by attacking South Korea. North Korea attacking south Korea would be like a bully punching a man in the face that has a loaded gun. So if all of this is true,why do we have military bases in South Korea then? South Korea has mined and built concrete fortifications along the mountainous DMZ to make a rapid breakthrough impossible. More importantly, China and Russia trade heavily with South Korea and provide no help to the fragile regime in the North. I mean come on there is a Burger King on the DMZ. So what is the point of having troops there? Many of you guys make very good points. But technology wise they lag behind. South Korea has military that is just as large as North Korea and better trained. Yes they would use a lot of arty on Seoul but in the end they would be smashed,crushed and defeated in a another war. Maybe I need to reserch more but South Korea is five times more powerful then NK.
Military - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
¬¬ dont know i only know that the US is the only country with troops in the foringe
2 :
Simple fact... The South Korean government has asked us to stay there.
3 :
Just incase
4 :
First, I'd like to introduce you to your new best friend, the paragraph. Second, you have outlined an impressive set of facts and logic. If North Korea were to start a war, a LOT of people would die, and since Seoul is only 30 miles from the DMZ, it would still be hugely disruptive to the South Korean economy, which is now tightly linked with the world economy.
5 :
I have never thought of it that way. If that's the case then there is no reason for the US to be there, since South Korea can easily defend itself.
6 :
Because North Korea is a danger to one of our closest allies in the region, despite your failure to recognize it as such....and because that close ally has requested that we maintain a presence there. What you must understand is that the North Koreans are not aware of anything that you state is "on paper." From an early age they are told that they are superior and that they are surrounded by enemies who are jealous of them. They are conditioned to be ready to fight...and they ARE ready to fight. The main reason you cannot see the threat is that you are applying rationality to what has been proven to be one of the more irrational regimes in the world.
7 :
Perhaps you are unaware that the Korean War is still ongoing. We are in a protracted cease-fire. Further, the government and the leaders in North Korea want to unify the peninsula, but only under Communist rule. As to the concrete fortifications and minefields, these are (as Patton said), "[Fixed fortifications] are monuments to man's stupidity." When I was in South Korea, several tunnels large enough for ten abreast to walk through were discovered under the DMZ. North Korea is constantly planning and scheming to take over the South. And with the current political climate, with the Obammessiah's World Apology Tour, the North doesn't think the world has the stomach to stop them if they decide to invade.
8 :
North Korea has special forces that dug caves under the DMZ and tried to kill the president, Park Chung Hee, at the Blue House. The American are there to patrol the DMZ. North Korea are testing nuclear missile and South Korea doesn't have an anti-missile defense so the Americans are there to provide them with one. Amercains have bases there just in case if North Korea violates the cease fire. Also North Korea are now making their own weapon and tanks and they are getting weapons from China and Russia secretly.
9 :
You have researched your numbers but have left off some very glaring facts. 1. You cannot compare apples to oranges..Numbers of Iraqi troops cannot be compared to numbers of NK troops for many reasons a. will to fight are different for each army...NK troops think of their leader almost as a god; not a tyrant b. topography and local advantage c. artillery and underground facilities (solid granite; not sand) NK has enough arty pointed at Seoul to level it in about 2 hours. Put another way, imagine 9-11 wiping out all of NY in 2 hours 2. How would 700,000 troops defend Seoul against artillery? have you ever been to Seoul? BTW, a large portion of that 700,000 are just guys doing their 2 years because they have to..many don't want to be there....again will to fight 3. NK SOF troops...largest SOF force on the planet....very well trained...will use all types of unconventional ways to cause trouble. 4. Sleeper agents in SK 5. DMZ is the most heavily mined border on the planet....not that many troops needed to defend it. Add to that the tunnels that have not been all discovered under the DMZ that NK could use 5. NK has huge chemical weapons stockpile and a handful of nukes (wind always blows north to south over there) As to your food riots and such. most in NK believe that the US and SK are the cause of those shortages...another reason for them to fight China has been and will continue to provide NK support to keep them stable regardless of their trade with SK I could go on, but as you can see, everything is not as you think. You should research more before making assumptions.....joining the military wouldn't help either
