When there are joint exercises between USA and ROK, those are mere inches away from actual invasion. It’s been this way for many years, and DPRK has just had to cope by being combat ready at nearly all times.
This is a new level of combat readiness. Without the roads and rail, ROK can’t use them in an invasion. This makes DPRK more defensible.
The US has mobile bridge units and rebuilding corps for crossing areas and exceptional experience in doing this kind of work over the past 70 years. Let’s recall for example the battle at Lake Changjin so well depicted in recent Chinese cinema. The reason that Chinese forces didn’t eliminate US troops there is because the US flew a bridge or parts of it straight from Japan to the battlefront to give them an evac route after the Chinese blew up the original bridge. That’s the kind of force they’re dealing with. So at best it slightly slows them down. Mining does a lot more but one must consider that the US and occupied Korea may not even try to use land routes for the first few weeks of conflict. In the original Korean war turn-about for the running dogs of imperial Japan/US was achieved via massive naval landings and use of air power. Given how much coast Korea has I think that’s probably part of any strategy.
In my opinion it’s as much about sending a message in the vein of closing off roads, burning bridges, that kind of thing of their resolve about the south being a hostile and threatening state.
When there are joint exercises between USA and ROK, those are mere inches away from actual invasion. It’s been this way for many years, and DPRK has just had to cope by being combat ready at nearly all times.
This is a new level of combat readiness. Without the roads and rail, ROK can’t use them in an invasion. This makes DPRK more defensible.
Only somewhat IMO.
The US has mobile bridge units and rebuilding corps for crossing areas and exceptional experience in doing this kind of work over the past 70 years. Let’s recall for example the battle at Lake Changjin so well depicted in recent Chinese cinema. The reason that Chinese forces didn’t eliminate US troops there is because the US flew a bridge or parts of it straight from Japan to the battlefront to give them an evac route after the Chinese blew up the original bridge. That’s the kind of force they’re dealing with. So at best it slightly slows them down. Mining does a lot more but one must consider that the US and occupied Korea may not even try to use land routes for the first few weeks of conflict. In the original Korean war turn-about for the running dogs of imperial Japan/US was achieved via massive naval landings and use of air power. Given how much coast Korea has I think that’s probably part of any strategy.
In my opinion it’s as much about sending a message in the vein of closing off roads, burning bridges, that kind of thing of their resolve about the south being a hostile and threatening state.