Will N Korea Fall?

[arizonaranchman]

North Korea is basically irrelevant anymore.

Iran is our most urgent problem but in fact our greatest enemy is China. They sit like a spider waiting for us to deteriorate from within as they plot to become #1 in the world. I fear they haven't got long to wait...

[Severian]

Interesting video on a small group of journalists who were able to get inside the country and get some footage: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapc...ex.html?hpt=C1

[HES]

I think it will fall like a house of cards, quite suddenly, such that the North govt cannot do anything to the South. It will happen too fast. Once the people realize that they have power (and from the comments in the linked article that appears to have started happening) it will mushroom very quickly.

The real question is can the south absorb the north or at least a gazillion N refugees.

Germany had to absorb the east and things were not anywhere as bad and it is stil an ongoing process there 20 years later

I think the question to ask before you talk about reunification is will the North Korean people be able to realize they have the power. Think about it. You have a society that is literally brain washed into thinking that their leader is a god; Infallible, completely worthy of every bit of devotion; emotional attachment, etc.. I honestly think that North Korea will only be reunited with the south after a vast majority dies from starvation / disease. The problem I see is that as that majority is dying, they launch a final attack of retribution on the south.

[ThirdWatcher]

I have a theory, though I admit it isn't based on any hard facts or evidence. I believe that N Korea is a puppet of China. Without the support of the Chinese, N korea would never had made this long. China uses N Korea as a distraction/ diversion to their own intensions. N Korea is a Chinese proxy. China won't let N Korea fail.

I've got no inside info, but I think that's pretty astute thinking.

[Thomas M-4]

NK will stand as long as china wants it to. It is a puppet state of china after all.

[chadbag]

interesting tid-bit

http://foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?p...953&pageNum=-1

[armakraut]

If they disintegrate, the problem will be integrating millions of formerly communist north koreans into normal korean society. It would be like adding mexico onto the US as a few more states and letting them vote for our president. For germany it wasn't a complete disaster, but I think it negatively affected the culture and political structure. Communist countries usually go out with a whimper, because at that point there literally isn't any morale or economic activity left.

There's no shortage of food or aid in the world right now.

South Korea would have to go to an extremely decentralized government.

[Safetyhit]

I think it will fall like a house of cards, quite suddenly, such that the North govt cannot do anything to the South. It will happen too fast. Once the people realize that they have power (and from the comments in the linked article that appears to have started happening) it will mushroom very quickly.

The real question is can the south absorb the north or at least a gazillion N refugees.

Germany had to absorb the east and things were not anywhere as bad and it is stil an ongoing process there 20 years later

I would agree with all of this. Despite their militant population, they must loathe their own existence and want better as human beings. I think...

But what will they do with all of those potentially free but still very lost souls?

[Mauser KAR98K]

Hopefully it will fall without a shot.

[GermanSynergy]

Hopefully it will fall without a shot.

As hard as it is to believe, there are a group of psychotic leftists that support North Korea, and they organize a trip to Pyongyang every year. I saw something on Youtube. The organization is run by a Spanish communist, and even a few Americans were marching in their propaganda parade to denounce the US. They even took a trip to the JSA/DMZ, and shouted "Yankee go home", or some such nonsense.