Honestly ashamed to admit I never knew quite how large DPRK’s military was. I almost feel like the stats I’m reading are off, they say US military has 1.4 million active personnel and DPRK has 1.3 million. By numbers (not funding) they have the fourth largest in the world. On one hand it’s depressing they need to put so much manpower to militarism, but at the same time I understand they were absolutely forced into this and I have massive respect for the everyday solider/vet in DPRK that is willing to risk everything to preserve their sovereignty and socialism.
Absolutely to what you’ve said, and their military actually services the people, too, sending out military doctors to quarantined families to deliver groceries and medicine for instance.
Under 13 years of US sanctions, Iraq was unable to maintain its existing pre-1990 arms with what little they could smuggle through Jordan. The most extensive indigenous upgrade Iraq was capable of before sanctions was the T-55 Enigma. The DPRK on other hand is capable of producing entirely new vehicles such as the M2020.
The US acknowledging that the DPRK has ICBMs capable of reaching the US is a recent phenomenon.
There was probably a gap in time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union that the DPRK might not have had the capability for credible nuclear deterrence and yet the Americans did not make their move.
Because then the US was at the “end of history”, they thought they had won.
Beside, there are two more reasons. 1. Any actual attack on DPRK had significant chance of involving PRC, and 90’s USA would rather not do it since they thought China is liberalising and will end in their pocket sooner or later (also it would disrupt all the US capital invested there) and 2. DPRK, while being completely harmless to USA, is actually very useful to their propaganda, which was especially true in the 90’s after destruction of USSR - it provide them with what every fascist regime needs - an external enemy - and it’s a great external enemy, the embodiment of “other”, mysterious, dangerous, dehumanised.
The US also secretly knows that it’s soldiers will defect as soon as those poor, undernourished people who signed up so they could be taught to read and get access to healthcare see the true level of development in the DRPK.
the reason was and always has been the same: you could defect on pragmatic and material grounds, but your family and all your life remain in the nation you left. So, specially for a young man, it’s often not an option.
You are a young german. You defect to the USSR. And then? your family hates you, your former country considers you a traitor, you don’t speak the language, don’t know the culture and everyone in the new country is at least suspicious of you.
Do you know much about that history? Like, why didn’t the US do to DPRK what it did to Vietnam (maybe it did, and I’ve just not heard about it). I have some hypotheses, but I’m just guessing really (i.e. (1) the US managed to keep a foothold in the south of Korea, but not in Vietnam, (2) it didn’t have the capacity for another such war in the region at that time, and (3) the Korean war never stopped, hence the south remains occupied, and that was enough for imperialist goals even if they still have a vendetta because the DPRK embarrassed them).
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Honestly ashamed to admit I never knew quite how large DPRK’s military was. I almost feel like the stats I’m reading are off, they say US military has 1.4 million active personnel and DPRK has 1.3 million. By numbers (not funding) they have the fourth largest in the world. On one hand it’s depressing they need to put so much manpower to militarism, but at the same time I understand they were absolutely forced into this and I have massive respect for the everyday solider/vet in DPRK that is willing to risk everything to preserve their sovereignty and socialism.
Absolutely to what you’ve said, and their military actually services the people, too, sending out military doctors to quarantined families to deliver groceries and medicine for instance.
Conscripts vs mobilized.
Under 13 years of US sanctions, Iraq was unable to maintain its existing pre-1990 arms with what little they could smuggle through Jordan. The most extensive indigenous upgrade Iraq was capable of before sanctions was the T-55 Enigma. The DPRK on other hand is capable of producing entirely new vehicles such as the M2020.
Nukes is the only reason imo
The US acknowledging that the DPRK has ICBMs capable of reaching the US is a recent phenomenon.
There was probably a gap in time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union that the DPRK might not have had the capability for credible nuclear deterrence and yet the Americans did not make their move.
Because then the US was at the “end of history”, they thought they had won.
Beside, there are two more reasons. 1. Any actual attack on DPRK had significant chance of involving PRC, and 90’s USA would rather not do it since they thought China is liberalising and will end in their pocket sooner or later (also it would disrupt all the US capital invested there) and 2. DPRK, while being completely harmless to USA, is actually very useful to their propaganda, which was especially true in the 90’s after destruction of USSR - it provide them with what every fascist regime needs - an external enemy - and it’s a great external enemy, the embodiment of “other”, mysterious, dangerous, dehumanised.
The US also secretly knows that it’s soldiers will defect as soon as those poor, undernourished people who signed up so they could be taught to read and get access to healthcare see the true level of development in the DRPK.
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the reason was and always has been the same: you could defect on pragmatic and material grounds, but your family and all your life remain in the nation you left. So, specially for a young man, it’s often not an option.
You are a young german. You defect to the USSR. And then? your family hates you, your former country considers you a traitor, you don’t speak the language, don’t know the culture and everyone in the new country is at least suspicious of you.
The more respect for the Americans who did defected to DPRK.
There is a pacifist I know that would sign up to kill Koreans but not for any other war. There seems to be a special hatred for DPRK.
IMO the DPRK is the Haiti of Asia. The white empires hate them because they got away and have vowed to punish them.
Do you know much about that history? Like, why didn’t the US do to DPRK what it did to Vietnam (maybe it did, and I’ve just not heard about it). I have some hypotheses, but I’m just guessing really (i.e. (1) the US managed to keep a foothold in the south of Korea, but not in Vietnam, (2) it didn’t have the capacity for another such war in the region at that time, and (3) the Korean war never stopped, hence the south remains occupied, and that was enough for imperialist goals even if they still have a vendetta because the DPRK embarrassed them).