Kyle Mizokami, National Interest: Could North Korea Annihilate Seoul with Its Artillery?
For most armies, artillery is just one component of an all-arms force consisting of infantry, armor and artillery. But North Korea’s curious strategic location, with the enemy capital within striking range, has turned the country’s arsenal of howitzers and rocket launchers collectively into a weapon of mass destruction, capable of reducing Seoul to rubble within days. Or does it? Has the threat to the capital by North Korea’s “King of Battle” been overstated?
During the Cold War, North Korea built up an oversized army—and artillery corps—as part of its goal of re-invading South Korea. The North Korean People’s Army Artillery Command is responsible for 12,000 pieces of tube artillery and 2,300 pieces of multiple launch rocket artillery over 107-millimeters. The majority of tube artillery are 122-, 130-, 152- and 170-millimeter units, and on the rocket side the majority are 240-millimeter units.
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WNU Editor: In my first visit to South Korea during the 1988 Olympics, I asked a good South Korean friend of mine that of all the weapons that North Korea had which did he fear the most .... his answer was .... the artillery. Over the years .... and many trips to South Korea .... when I asked that question I have always been given the same answer. North Korea's artillery capacity is no joke ,,,, it is their weapon of mass destruction, and they will use it to destroy Seoul.
5 comments:
The point that south koreans fear it is understandable but that fear foes not mean that the threat has been overstated.
There are numerous analysts who seriously question the casualty rate given and the nths ability to continue a high fire raye after the initial salvo due to devestating anf accurate counter battery fire and the ensuing air attacks.
What is a definate is the casualties that a nuke will produce in japan.guam.hawaii or mainland u.s.
Fazman, I agree. However, I think it's better to be cautious than to be sorry. Especially as we're dealing with a civilian population on both sides (North and South) that will undoubtedly suffer. The only question is how much and what can be done to limit suffering on both sides.
What can be done depends largely on China. The North Korean regime is alive and well and could make great strides only because of China - that should be without doubt. Now when we come to accept this we should also accept that it's China that can end this. If China would stop trade with north Korea and combine it with clear messaging "stop your nuclear ambitions or else", the north Korean regime will stop. They'd hedge no choice. They can't keep using the money for nuclear ambitions when you have millions starving. And, combined with precision strikes against the nuclear test sites and laboratories they'd soon run out of options with no way forward. They will realise they can't have nuclear weapons and to avoid internal revolt they'll give up on it.
Kim is a goner. .he'll be dead before the end of this decade if he continues to go down the nuclear path. If he understands that, he'll strike a deal to lift sanctions and have weapons inspectors come in. He'll basically weigh chances of being assassinated over next few decades against being killed this decade if he continues his nuclear posture. He thinks he can join the big league club. But this is a mafia he can't join, they won't accept him. He burned too many bridges. It's over one way or the other. His choice is how long he wants to live.
Military analyists note that many many of the weapons displayed are FAKE
Thank you for the link Fred. I am going to post it later.
If you are afraid of an attack it doesn't make sense to mass so many fighters in one place, in tight order. Nor equipment.
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