I think u supported Iraq war, certainly Noko is more dangerous.

I guess you have some bad memories about Korea, but China is obviously not doing much. Russia was rumored to support action against the Nokos. Certainly with missile and nuclear proliferation Noko is far more dangerous than Saddam. Would u just nuke the place?

Confronting NoKo may just be what the regime needs to give it new life. Let it die on its own. Let them twist in the wind....

It will be interesting to see how things play out actually since i am sure the Koreas will unite once again during my lifetime. And the xenophobia of the Koreans will pose a major threat to world peace. the mindless naitonalism of the north will easily shift to pro united Korea nationalism. The anti west anti japan ideology which is already embraced by the south will be the glue that holds the new entity together. Fueled this time with the economy of the south, the united korea will be a major destabilizing force in Asia.

The original post is a set up designed to trap all of us that supported the Iraq invasion.  Herc tipped his hand early with his response to Panther, but Panther has a point.  You could make a moral and humanitarian case for invading North Korea and removing the Kim Jong Il regime, but as Iraq has proven the United States will largely be left to deal with the aftermath.  GoG also pointed out the possible ramifications if we invaded.  I agree that we should let NorK rot from the inside and then help the South Koreans deal with what happens next, just like we did the Germans after unification.  If North Korea invades in a last gasp, desperate effort then we will have to fulfill our obligations to South Korea, but other than that I think we would be served in this case to let the North Korean regime fade away. 

I stand by my prediction, WC, and actually I've been ranting intermittently about Korea for a few years now.

 

This will be a costly reunification a la East Germany as you point out, BUT it won't be the North subordinating itself to the South as in West/East Germany. This will be a synthesis, a fusion, creating a Frankenstein.

 

North and South Korea: two sides of the same coin.

So...what, GoG?  You buy into SlowMan's Inter-Eastasia dustup hypothesis (which I only half follow - nothing like determined paranoids to make one feel stupid for not keeping up)?  Maybe somebody can finally compete with China in light manufacturing; that's what I'd like to see, not to mention another sore spot on Chinese borders.  But you envision some big convulsion?  I guess I missed your years of rants, please flesh out for me where you're going with this.