Will N Korea Fall?

[kjdoski]

We all ASSumed North Korea would self destruct when Kim Il-Sung died. The younger Kim stepped in without a hitch. If/when the current psychotic "Beloved Leader" dies, another, selected by the Party elite and approved by the PRC, will take his place.

Unless/until the PRC removes their support to the NK regime, there will be no collapse, and no radical changes.

Just my opinion, of course, and worth precisely what you paid for it.

Regards,

Kevin

[bkb0000]

north korea cant do anything BUT fall... i've recently watched a couplefew documentaries on the place, seen some inside footage of life for the masses on the other side of the wall... its un-****ing-believable how bad life is for those millions of poor SOBs.

when it falls, however, it won't be as simple as reuniting north and south. it'll be 20 million (? cant remember exacly how many folks up there) unemployed, starving, brain-washed refugees fleeing for the boarders. south k wont be able to support half of them, and china will BIG payment to help.. maybe even annexation. there is at least some degree of infrastructure- some wise investments could probably turn the place into a productive region.

[Mauser KAR98K]

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.

Well, lets be glad there are the some, and not the many.

[Nathan_Bell]

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.

Did you forget your sarcasm tag on that statement?

[armakraut]

The only food shortages you see are countries starving their own people to death out of pride or malice.

[Nathan_Bell]

The only food shortages you see are countries starving their own people to death out of pride or malice.

Yup, but there isn't enough sitting around to suddenly feed 20 M Norks. Global grain stockpiles are low, as in 30 year low range. Keep them fed better than they are now, probably, but not enough to give them what most of the world considers a proper caloric intake.

[5pins]

Looks like things are heating up.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/03...order-n-korea/

The South Korean navy has reportedly fired shots at unidentified ships in the direction of North Korea as it investigates whether a sinking vessel in its fleet was struck by a torpedo Friday.

Military officials said the 1,200-ton ship Cheonan was patrolling in waters south of the maritime border with North Korea when an explosion occurred at the stern of the ship, which carries a crew of 104 sailors, KBS World Radio reported.

South Korean broadcaster SBS said many of the sailors were feared dead, as the country's president, Lee Myung-Bak, called an emergency meeting of security-related ministers.

Twenty-four sailors have been rescued from the vessel, officials told the Korea Herald, and navy ships and helicopters continue to circle in an attempt to save more crew members, KBS World Radio reported.

There was no word on the cause of the explosion or any casualties, but officials did not rule out the possibility of an attack from North Korea.

South Korea's YTN TV network said the government was investigating whether the explosion was caused by a torpedo attack from the North, and KBS reported news that the another South Korean ship fired at unidentified vessels while patrolling nearby waters.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.