Some Scenarios Of A North Korean War Against South Korea And The U.S.

What Happens If North Korea Gets Out Of Hand? Here Are Some Scenarios -- NBC

While political and military analysts sound pretty confident that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's threats are just bluster, you can't get around the fact that the region encompassing the Korean peninsula is one of the most heavily militarized places on Earth, home to three of the world's six-largest militaries.

If the unthinkable were to happen, how would it play out?

Leon Panetta, who stepped down as President Barack Obama's defense secretary in February, warned this week in an interview with CNBC that "we don't have as much insight as we should with regards to the inner workings of what happens in North Korea."

But based on declassified U.S. and U.N. assessments and independent analyses by military scholars, we can make some educated guesses:

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My Comment: The possibility of China intervening with it's military in any conflict on the Korean peninsula presents the most worrisome possibilities. A North Korean implosion, the massive use of WMDs against South Korea and even against targets in Japan and/or U.S. military bases in the region .... will result in a massive U.S.-South Korean-Japanese response .... and in turn may force the Chinese to alter their position of neutrality on a conflict that is raging "out of control" on it's borders. In such an eventuality, it will not surprise me to see Chinese forces rush into North Korea to secure as much territory as possible as a deterrent against U.S. and South Korean military advancement and occupation. In short .... a repeat of their involvement in the Korean war of 1950-1953 .... but without openly engaging U.S. or South Korean forces. But if military hostilities do break out between U.S.-South Korean forces against North Korean and Chinese military forces .... all bets will then be off on what happens next.