North Korea's Threats

So, North Korea says it will wipe the United States from the map if our military forces strike.  I am reminded of the threats to Israel over the years which threaten the same fate. Israel is still around and probably not going anywhere soon.  It was nice to see Xi step in and try to calm the water before this gets any worse.  He is probably telling the North to calm down and stop issuing announcements about things that are incredible i.e not credible -to the rest of the world.

The world does not know very much about the North's military strength.  I tried the CIA Factbook and got next to nothing about their military but Global Firepower does the projection a different way. They estimate the population (where else would you have to do that?) look at the distribution by age to see who might be able to serve, then guess at how many are actually serving.  That comes out to be around 700,000 under arms, a large part of which is dedicated to protecting the country from its own people - trying to keep people in, not out.

The trouble in the government of the South is problematic with the President out and new elections to come.  I wouldn't worry too much about the stability of the country though.  The South has a very capable, well-trained military.  If there is any trouble, they will be ready.  Many of them can still remember the Korean War, unlike the rest of the world which stops teaching its children anything that might smack of war.  They know what will happen if the North comes.  The Chinese will make sure the North doesn't lose by much and the borders don't change, though they would gladly let them run all the way to Basun if they could.  Japan would not like that, but the Chinese would like Japanese interference even less.

China benefits most from being a peacemaker.  They have slowly and quietly gained control of the South China Sea, but they are a long way from making it secure against outside threats.  They need more time.  Unlike the North, the Chinese are patient.