S.Korea sending troops to Iraq - is this N.Korea's chance?

I've just seen on the news that S.Korea will be sending 3000 troops to Iraq (despite the S.Korean hostage being held). This will make them the largest coalition partner after the US and UK.

Add to this the the US has moved troops away from the N.Korea/S.Korea border and has also sent troops stationed in S.Korea to Iraq.

It is these events that have got me thinking that now would be the perfect time for the N.Koreans to invade S.Korea. There are fewer US troops there and the US has it's hands full in Iraq, it would be very hard for the US to fight the N.Koreans as well. The N.Korean army is much better than Iraq's army was for one. Also, you must remeber that the N.Koreans have wanted to invade S.Korea and unite the Korean penninsula ever since the Korean war in the 1950's - if they want to do this now would most probably be a good time to do it.

Does anyone else have any views or opinions on this?

I don't think they would if south korea sends them. Because 3,000 is only a small portion of their military, and even then a lot of them are just engineers and medics not combat troops.

but then again you never know.

3000 troops of mixed specialties going to Iraq will not make much difference in South Koreas defence when one looks at total numbers.

The army consists of the Army Headquarters, the three army commands, the Aviation Command, and the Special Warfare Command. The army possesses component units including 11 corps, 49 divisions, and 19 brigades, some 560,000 troops, some 2,360 tanks, 5,180 pieces of field artillery, and 2,400 armored vehicles.

ROK Army - Introdution

Originally posted by Phoenix
3000 troops of mixed specialties going to Iraq will not make much difference in South Koreas defence when one looks at total numbers.

Thats quite a good point. I didn't realise that South Korea had such a large army. Despite this the US is moving troops out of South Korea, and, regardless of numbers involved, the North Koreans may see this as a decrease in the US's support for South Korea and may act upon this - however this is just speculation.

Originally posted by Eddie999

Originally posted by Phoenix
3000 troops of mixed specialties going to Iraq will not make much difference in South Koreas defence when one looks at total numbers.

Thats quite a good point. I didn't realise that South Korea had such a large army. Despite this the US is moving troops out of South Korea, and, regardless of numbers involved, the North Koreans may see this as a decrease in the US's support for South Korea and may act upon this - however this is just speculation.

Believe it or not. South Korea also have the second largest marine corp in the world (all volunteers). Its very impressive for a country that size.

Yea, South korea has a very able military (600,000) strong. Although outnumbered by the north koreans (1 million), SK's military is more advanced and better trained. I am very doubtful of a North Korean invasion, for it would be far too risky/costly for the North Koreans, especially if the U.S. gets involved.

Originally posted by Eddie999

Thats quite a good point. I didn't realise that South Korea had such a large army. Despite this the US is moving troops out of South Korea, and, regardless of numbers involved, the North Koreans may see this as a decrease in the US's support for South Korea and may act upon this - however this is just speculation.

even so we have troops in japan who could be deployed to korea easily, im sure japanese and american forces would invade north korea if they invaded the south.

It is very unlikely that the North Koreans can count on Chinese support for an unprovoked attack. The chinese are probably VERY happy to see troops moving to Iraq and nuclear fears moving to Iran. I think the Chinese will pressure N.K. to be enjoy the relative safety provided by the current situation, and to hold out for a politically driven re-unification movement from the south. If the Koreans go anyway, I think China will let us demolish the NK army before they threaten interference to save North Korea. Then they'd want to install a stable puppet in NK, which would probably be acceptable to the US for the moment.


American forces are dispersed, America's economy is already under the strain of militarization, and the American people are already growing war-weary. This is a pretty good time for limited aggression to make Americans ask "what are we doing in North Korea anyway?". So I wouldn't rule anything out. They can't win though. They MIGHT be able to destroy the second division, but they couldn't
keep us from landing in greater numbers and drowning them in the Yalu.

And yes... ROK Marines are awesome. Their initial training is 12 months, and they live in a constant standoff. They are very sharp and highly disciplined. God bless em.

If there is a war with NK, it looks like this: An advance in NK weaponry or other advance leads them to believe they can sweep us off the continent and offer a favorable treaty, backed by nuclear threats against any new invasion.
They sweep south, but are stopped short. As American reinforcements build, nuclear warfare, or discussions forced by the threat of it are a distinct possibility. A first-strike by the US is not out of the question if the US believes it can eliminate all NK nukes with one shot. If there is a retaking of Korea, it wont be shock and awe. It will be a slow and deliberate manuever war, centering on costly American advances designed to open the way for attacks on NK artillery. We may see a major airborne operation or air assault (helocopter assault) to break the stalemate. Once that happens we can push North of Pyongyang, where the chinese will give NK enough artilery to stalemate the war and force negotiations, unless America is willing to land North-west of the Yalu, allowing them do anhilate the NK eventually, but forcing us to hold out against China in a tenuous logistical situation.

Great post The Vagabond. I agree with you that China would not want to intervene straight away if the N.Koreans attacked S.Korea. They would just most probably stop N.Korea from being defeated by the S.Koreans/US forces.

However I believe that N.Korea could win against S.Korea. If war ever started Seoul would be a crater within an hour and huge numbers of N.Korean troops would be qucikly advancing south. It is also rumoured that N.Korea has chemical and biological weapons and N.Korea might use these to gain an advantage.

I really, really doubt North Korea would do any invading at this point in time. They have the U.S. breathing down their necks very hard. Any type of military action will bring the U.S. immediately down upon them and it will be all over for the government of North Korea. Being listed as part of the "Axis of Evil" in which two countries in that axis have been defeated already basically means North Korea has to be on the defensive concerning U.S. attack and so has to forget about any such conquests.