United Korea

[Shrink]

Do you think they'll call it just 'Korea' or 'United Korea' or some other wacky name?
Heh, not really; that's not the topic, you silly, silly people! Hehehehejfhdjgsdgfdsfsdgf!

Well, Korea is split between two entirely different political systems, known as the North and South.
We can draw similarities between East and West Germany, and North and South Korea. That was only 20 years ago, but the Germans finally got their act together. Literally (guffaw, guffaw). Some could say it's also similar to that Vietnam situation of the sixties; that was split into the North and South.
So, the future.
Although I dont think there will be a uprising against Kim Jung Il in North Korea, I was wondering about his succesor. He may not get a easy transion to power. Would his son take power, as he did to his father?
Would Korea finally unite? If it does, how easy would this process be? What would the capital be? How would the new Korea act with Russia, China, Japan, and the USA? Would the new Korea be as economically powerful as Germany is today? Probably not, says Shrink.

If the regime in NK was toppled, would they unite? Are they now too different, too independant?
Look at Germany, after 16 years of being one nation again the uphoria has worn off and there are some East Germans who feel that they might have been better off staying sperate. In East Germany, they have had problems coping with the 'proper' economic system, and as such, there are tons of unemployed and unskilled workers.
It's also worth bearing in mind that East Germany wasn't even a fifth as backwards as North Korea is today.
The 50 million tax payers of South Korea would have to support the 30 million starving peasants of the North for decades. It would screw over the South, and I can't see them ever wanting to do it.

North Korea will topple in time. They might have a quite nice military, but they don't have an economy to back it up. If they enter a major conflict, it will fizzle out too quickly because the economy can't support it.
They need a balance between guns and butter, not an absolute dependence on guns. (However, they have recently been working on their economy again, and didn't they promise to give up nukes?)

[Dino]

Something tells me that none of that United Korea gig would go down too well in either north or south Korea. What with all the fighting that goes on between them, I'd say it'd be a pretty rocky transition at best. Pretty much like Iraq's transition to democracy.

No real way to tell until it happens.

[used:)]

It woukld be great if the two countries would be reunited because the North needs the resources and power the South has, and the South is way over crowded.

[Shrink]

Regardless of how much it destroys Southern economy and lifestyle?
Regardless of how the North won't be able to adapt?

[Dino]

Regardless of how much it destroys Southern economy and lifestyle?
Regardless of how the North won't be able to adapt?

It won't destroy the southern economy if they go into expansion to create new jobs for the northern workers and unemployed southern workers - that way they'll be able to net more profit, which will benefit the economy greatly.

And I can't really comment on how the North will handle it. I'm sure they'll get over it in time.

[Scrab-Meat]

The only thing I don't like is how the North is keeping its Nuclear weapons. It scares me to death because not only we have the Iraq war and all but could u imagine the US getting into a conflict again with Korea maybe even worse China? It sucks because I live in the US and it looks really bad.

[Shrink]

Lot's of countries have nukes. Lots. Only America has ever used them. Theres no rule that says countries other countries don't like aren't allowed nuclear weapons.

[Dino]

I can assure you that the weapons of North Korea are NOTHING compared to that of the US.

If you want scary nuclear power, consider this; in 1961, the tritium fusion device Tsar Bomba was detonated 4km above the surface of the Earth. It's fireball reached and engulfed the ground below - as the fireball approached the earth, the air pressure below it rose to 300 PSI, and the mushroom cloud rose to a truely apocalyptic height of 64km, and width of 48km. The light produced by the explosion was visible 1000km away, and the atmospheric shockwave orbited earth three times. Radio communications went out for a whole hour, and wooden houses were destroyed hundreds of kilometers away from ground zero.

That was the 50 megaton version - the power of the bomb was halved after they realised that if they deployed the full 100 megatons, the device would have destroyed earth.

With the advent of improved nuclear technology, if a bomb of the same size were to be built again (80 tons) a yield of roughly 500 megatons would be easily achievable.

[Scrab-Meat]

We are basically liveing with the bomb. Get this 60 years after Hiroshima, eight nations maybe more have nuclear weapons. Terrorists want them too. How safe is the world from the ultimate weapon? Here are some facts found in National Geographic about the various types of bombs out there. Starting with the

Atomic Bomb
(1945)
15 Kilotons
Threat; Used in 1945 against Japan, such bombs are now held by eight states, within reach of 20 more, and are sought by terrorists and criminals.

Technology; The mechanism works by forcing two "subcritical" masses of HEU together, or violently compressing a spherical mass of HEU or plutonium to start an uncontrolled fission reaction.

Damage; A Hiroshima-size bomb would level down-town Washington DC, killing tens of thousands of people.

Hydrogen Bomb
(1952)
300 kilotons
Threat; First tested by the U.S. in 1952 and the Soviets a year later, such weapons are held by the majority of today's nuclear powers.

Technology; Heating and compressing hydrogen isotopes with the radiation from a small atomic bomb triggers a powerful fusion reaction.

Damage; All living things within several miles of ground zero would likely be engulfed in a firestorm or vaporized. Total dead: Hundreds of thousands and more.

This best describes your facts on that megaton bomb u mention. Perhaps the bomb that threatens to destroy the world is probabally a type of super hydrogen bomb.

Suitcase Bomb
(Present)
0.1 kiloton
Threat; Capable of being precisely targeted and delivered by truck, boat, or suitcase, These weapons are easily concealed, and thus the most worrisome.

Technology; Triggered by miniaturized electronics, 35-pound nuclear device would deliver the explosive power of 100 tons of TNT.

Damage; Blast and radiation would flatten buildings and kill people within a few hundred yards, and do billions of dollars' worth of damage.


That gives us a rough idea of what we are looking at when it comes to the nuclear powers of the world. Terrorists want their dirty hands on them and we want to use them. Countries like Korea already have them and who's to say they want to use them on somebody they hate or have a grudge against? Where is the logic behind all of this? This is a scary reality and anyone who is crazy would smuggle such bombs into other countries and kill thousands and on top of that the super powers of the world such as the United States, and most of Europe possess the very thing that we are supposedly against. It just doesn't make sense and nobody ever said the human race made sense.

[Shrink]

North Korea won't nuke anybody. It's not a country run by robots. It is run by humans who understand that they are vastly dependant on other countries, and quite literally, tons of imports.
Using a bomb would undoubtedly make the UN take action (regardless of how useless most internet-debaters think it is), and if they don't send troops, they can just block all trade and completely screw them that way. Which would work.
Furthermore, America + coalition, under such circumstances, would probably go and invade or destroy the country, of which they are capable.

It's in nobodies' favour to ever drop a nuke again. The world won't stand for it.

[Scrab-Meat]

I dunno Shrink with the way the world is today who knows. Maybe the super powers of the world are not in favour with droping a nuke but what about the communist? They hate nations like us the United States and most European nations. Thats the threat. Imagine all of the communist nations of the world gathered together to strike the worlds leading powers and we dident know anything about it? We are talking WW3.

[Shrink]

Communists aren't evil demon-men who don't care about the Earth, humans or the fact the rest of the world will screw them over if they nuke us.

[Scrab-Meat]

It is so stupid I think if the governments want to fight then let them fight and leave us normal people alone. Who cares its just not logical ya know? They are the ones who cause the problems in the first place not us.

[soulstice]

There never will be a war with N. Korea and China against America.

[used:)]

I doubt China will want to invade. They are quickly becoming the next workshop of the world. If they give thmselves a bad image, all of their countries that they sell to will shred the contracts, savor America probably.