South Korea vows revenge

By Charles Moffat - December 2010.

POLITICS - If a war comes between North and South Korea it will be because neither side was willing to stop tit-for-tatting back and forth.

President Lee Myung-bak’s choice for a new defence minister says South Korean jets will bomb the North if the North stages another attack like last week’s deadly artillery barrage. This would mean an incursion into North Korea, and a declaration of open war.

North Korea meanwhile has already promised more artillery barrages if South Korea and the USA conducts military drills near the North Korean border.

As a person who used to live in South Korea the question of whether the two Koreas will go to war is near and dear to me. South Korea is like a 2nd home to me. If a war happened I would be tempted to sign up and help teach Canadian troops how to speak Korean, an useful skill for troops to have when taking prisoners and recognizing which Koreans are the enemy and the ally.

President Lee’s government is under intense criticism that its response to North Korea’s November 23rd attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong was too weak and that they should be doing more to make it clear attacks on South Korea will not go unanswered. Especially since SK' spy chief dismissed information that the North was planning an attack on Yeonpyeong since August.

Thus the announcement that any new attacks will incur air-strikes and provoke a war is sending the message that South Korea is ready for war if the North doesn't back off. Kim Kwan-jin, the defence minister nominee, says South Korea will use all its combat capabilities to retaliate.

As nominee Kim Kwan-jin is guaranteed the post. The hearing before South Korea’s National Assembly is just a formality.

Kim also said North Korea is unable to conduct a full-scale war because of its weak economy, but this is just rhetoric on his part. North Korea's primary military ability isn't in normal weapons, its in sheer numbers of soldiers (military service is mandatory in North Korea), nuclear missiles and trickery, as much as it can muster. A war between the two Koreas will be full of Northern soldiers posing as Southern soldiers... which is why their ability to know English and their knowledge of western pop culture will be tested. (ie. by asking them to sing an Elvis song, name characters from Star Trek, or quote lines from The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.)

According to South Korean intelligence North Korea has boosted its rocket and missile capabilities for hitting Seoul. They now have 5,200 missiles aimed at Seoul. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff will not confirm the report.

The International Criminal Court said today it has opened a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes by North Korea resulting from its recent clashes with South Korea and attacks on civilians.

South Korean and US forces in the region remain on high alert.

MEANWHILE...

Sarah Palin is drawing heavy criticism around the world after declaring that the United States has to stand with “our North Korean allies.” during a radio talk show.



Sarah Palin’s gaffe was made last Wednesday during an interview on Glenn Beck’s syndicated radio show in which she mentioned her desire to run for president in 2012.

The Times of India says Sarah Palin “did it again.”

London’s Daily Mail says Sarah Palin “may want to brush up on her geography.”

Of course, if a war with North Korea happens in the next 2 years and Barack Obama is the sitting president during a nuclear war, Sarah Palin will have very little chance of unseating the president during a time of crisis. War has a tendency to bolster support for the sitting president.

ie. Like how Bill Clinton bombed Iraq in December 1998 and his approval ratings soared; Or how September 11th happened and George W. Bush's approval rating soared, despite being most useless president in U.S. history during the 1st 8 months and completely incompetent during the remainder of his presidency.