Comrade
Senior Member
What options exists with respect to North Korea?
1. Cut off all aid and witness a breakdown in their society.
#1 Ensures a complete collapse of NK society. Mass starvation and suffering and eventual anarchy outside of Pyongyang. But the leaders will remain in power and their army will continue to be favorably supplied, above all else. Before that goes, the only option left would be war, or the credible threat of it. More likely, they'll find a backdoor and stay afloat long enough to drive home the fact it's our actions that punish their subjects while they remain in power and suffer no pain. That's a really bad idea but not insane. It's reversable.
2. Declare war and attempt to quickly depose the regime.
#2 Guarantees a massive loss of life in both countries, and among their eight nukes some will likely kill millions in S.K., US, or Japan. UNLESS we bring the missle defense program online this is a bad option. Seoul will be a smoldering ash heap in any case. And being the aggressor, China panics and maybe comes in against the attack to protect their borders and this buffer state. South Korea would never agree to Seoul being destroyed, under immediate fire from tens of thousands of artillery shells. The WORST option of all is this one.
3. Assasinate "dear leader" and other key government officials.
#3 Assumes the next piece of shit who rises in his place is going to throw away his life goal and let his family and future die on the vine for some reform. Or he tries to do so and is killed by others who are just happy to be elite in the party structure. And if we try and fail to kill Kim Il the little pissant will probably retaliate. So that plan doesn't offer much possibility either way. This option is not too risky but offers no reward.
4. Nuke the whole site from orbit.
#4 This is a nasty and murderous kind of thing to do. China will react, and Seoul is toasted, and the world is pissed off.
And even then a few nukes may get through to us and millions die in the US or Japan.
Still, in my opinion, a surpise attack, knowing in advance the locations of the launch sites, and hitting the leadership alongside in tandem, that's probably our best shot at some kind of "win" in the following years. We wait longer than that, and more nukes and longer ranged missiles end this option.
But if it succeed, were still left with some toxic nationa full of dead and dying North Koreans. That's wrong.
And of course, Seoul is a heap of smoldering ash.
5. Wait and see.
#5 Is the status-quo now, of course.
We give them enough oil and subsidy so that Kim has enough to stay in power and maintain his army, without getting nervous about how he can still keep his regime going.
He's also looking at options 1-4 as well, and notes that every one leave him dead.
Kim prefers #5 but talks alot about 1-4 so we can get back to #5 and more money for his regime.
And some day, he'll pop off and up goes the third portrait on the walls of every home and office. We'll probably fund that as well.
And several hundred Mirved ICBM's can reach the continents and we'll have to basically fold to more demands and perhaps even face their nukes at the hands of those terrorist groups they sponsor. Unless the missle defence tech kicks into high gear and outpaces their own missile tech we need to nuke them right now, to get out from under this losing battle.
BUT....
6. Be a creative genuis
All the conventional options suck, so brainstorm.
I like the idea of loading up a high altitude aircraft service with stacks of literature, small and cheap two-way radios ($10 each now!), and dishes for tv. Sure, many will go to waste but many will fall into the hands of those who dare to discover the outside world.
Anyone have more ideas?
1. Cut off all aid and witness a breakdown in their society.
#1 Ensures a complete collapse of NK society. Mass starvation and suffering and eventual anarchy outside of Pyongyang. But the leaders will remain in power and their army will continue to be favorably supplied, above all else. Before that goes, the only option left would be war, or the credible threat of it. More likely, they'll find a backdoor and stay afloat long enough to drive home the fact it's our actions that punish their subjects while they remain in power and suffer no pain. That's a really bad idea but not insane. It's reversable.
2. Declare war and attempt to quickly depose the regime.
#2 Guarantees a massive loss of life in both countries, and among their eight nukes some will likely kill millions in S.K., US, or Japan. UNLESS we bring the missle defense program online this is a bad option. Seoul will be a smoldering ash heap in any case. And being the aggressor, China panics and maybe comes in against the attack to protect their borders and this buffer state. South Korea would never agree to Seoul being destroyed, under immediate fire from tens of thousands of artillery shells. The WORST option of all is this one.
3. Assasinate "dear leader" and other key government officials.
#3 Assumes the next piece of shit who rises in his place is going to throw away his life goal and let his family and future die on the vine for some reform. Or he tries to do so and is killed by others who are just happy to be elite in the party structure. And if we try and fail to kill Kim Il the little pissant will probably retaliate. So that plan doesn't offer much possibility either way. This option is not too risky but offers no reward.
4. Nuke the whole site from orbit.
#4 This is a nasty and murderous kind of thing to do. China will react, and Seoul is toasted, and the world is pissed off.
And even then a few nukes may get through to us and millions die in the US or Japan.
Still, in my opinion, a surpise attack, knowing in advance the locations of the launch sites, and hitting the leadership alongside in tandem, that's probably our best shot at some kind of "win" in the following years. We wait longer than that, and more nukes and longer ranged missiles end this option.
But if it succeed, were still left with some toxic nationa full of dead and dying North Koreans. That's wrong.
And of course, Seoul is a heap of smoldering ash.
5. Wait and see.
#5 Is the status-quo now, of course.
We give them enough oil and subsidy so that Kim has enough to stay in power and maintain his army, without getting nervous about how he can still keep his regime going.
He's also looking at options 1-4 as well, and notes that every one leave him dead.
Kim prefers #5 but talks alot about 1-4 so we can get back to #5 and more money for his regime.
And some day, he'll pop off and up goes the third portrait on the walls of every home and office. We'll probably fund that as well.
And several hundred Mirved ICBM's can reach the continents and we'll have to basically fold to more demands and perhaps even face their nukes at the hands of those terrorist groups they sponsor. Unless the missle defence tech kicks into high gear and outpaces their own missile tech we need to nuke them right now, to get out from under this losing battle.
BUT....
6. Be a creative genuis
All the conventional options suck, so brainstorm.
I like the idea of loading up a high altitude aircraft service with stacks of literature, small and cheap two-way radios ($10 each now!), and dishes for tv. Sure, many will go to waste but many will fall into the hands of those who dare to discover the outside world.
Anyone have more ideas?
