[KS] Re: Still Invaded Economically and Culturally

[kushibo]

Robert Armstrong wrote:
> My question is; when Korea does unify, where do all the troops go?  Right
> now there is somewhere around a million men facing each other in the DMZ
> area and the rear areas included would obviously bring that force number up.
>   The large submarine navy of the North's along with their gun boats and
> missile boats, South Korea and her small navy of submarines and surface
> vessels, the large airforces of both countries, not to mention the rocketry
> of North Korea's.  Will China be happy with a shift of the troops to the
> Chinese border?  Will the Russians be happy when their weakly guarded border
> with the North Koreans is suddenly facing not the small backward rear units
> but a large force of men.  Don't forget Putian had made the comment that
> unless Russia is careful, the maritime provinces will become Korean, Chinese
> or Japanese, (I am pretty sure he meant that ethnically but who knows).
> Will Japan be relieved to have the combined navies of the North and South
> now as a potential to their own valued sea lanes, let alone a nice bit of
> open land to test their missiles, and with South Korean technology?  Will
> the generals in the North and the South be willing to be relieved of their
> power when a restructuring of the military would come about?  I am tend to
> doubt that.  Any suggestions what they will do with the military?


As my cousin Bob likes to put his own spin on the oft-quoted Korean adage of
the pacific nature of the Choson people: "The Koreans are a peaceful people;
they only invade themselves."

My point being, China doesn't have much, historically speaking, to fear from
Korean invasion forces, so they probably aren't too worried. Korea and China
have virtually no border disputes, not disputed islands, as they do with
some of their southern neighbors. The same is true with Russia.

Russia (and China, near Taiwan?) has island disputes with Japan (and so does
Korea). The US vacating Okinawa, the Japanese main islands, and Korea would
mean a likely build-up of Japanese defense forces, which would be a threat
to Russia in the Kurile Islands, and a threat to anyone who was invaded by
Japan in the middle of the last century, during the lifetime of many people
on this list. Korea poses no such threat. And Japan poses little such threat
as long as the US is the proxy for their defense.

As for the newfound might of a unified Korean military, wouldn't the South
be inheriting (I'm assuming a Southern absorption of the North) a fleet of
rust buckets and underfed draftees armed with what amounts to muskets? My
guess is that the gov't of the day will mobilize many of the troops from
both sides in FDR-esque New Deal-type publics work projects. And they may
just decide to end the draft system, letting millions of young men stay in
school.

Japan's worries would make them more likely to encourage a continued US
presence. The US is acting quite a bit like a dorm mom.

K U S H I B O


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