Message from the Embassy of the United States Seoul South Korea (& more)

Nope .. not more doom porn ... In fact, just the opposite.
( So sorry to let ya'll down. )

Full Text Here - Message from the Embassy of the United States - Seoul South Korea

The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that despite current political tensions with North Korea there is no specific information to suggest there are imminent threats to U.S. citizens or facilities in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The Embassy has not changed its security posture and we have not recommended that U.S. citizens who reside in, or plan to visit, the Republic of Korea take special security precautions at this time. The U.S. Embassy takes as its highest priority the welfare of American citizens in Korea. Should the security situation change, the Embassy will issue updated information.

No travel warnings for South Korea. Only North Korea and it's a month old.
Latest Travel Warning for N. Korea from the US Government - last updated MARCH 14 2013

The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens about travel to North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK). Travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea is not routine, and U.S. citizens crossing into North Korea, even accidentally, have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention. Since January 2009, four U.S. citizens have been arrested for entering North Korea illegally, and two U.S. citizens who entered on valid DPRK visas were arrested inside North Korea on other charges. This replaces the Travel Warning issued for North Korea on September 11, 2012, and it reminds U.S. citizens about the serious risks involved in traveling to the DPRK.

8th Army - US Army Korea
Everything normal. No civilian or dependent evac's.

US Army Garrison, Yongsan Korea (Seoul).
Everything normal. No civilian or dependent evac's.

The only thing suspicious .. the website for The US Forces Korea is down.
Supposedly an 'internal server issue'. It's been down for a at least a few days.

If war with Korea was to happen, these Army are the first to go in after our forces in Korea ..
Camp Zama Japan - USARJ
Everything normal. No civilian or dependent evac's. All conditions are green.

If war with Korea was to happen, these Air Force are the first to go in after our forces in Korea ..
Yokota Air Force Base - Japan
Power outage basewide. No civilian or dependent evac's.

I was in the US Army and was stationed in Japan in the 1980s.
If we expected to have a war in the next few days, the bases would be on alert
and the civilians would be in the process of evacuation by now. It isn't happening.

Well .. we MIGHT be on a higher alert level, but not to the point that they are
expecting N. Korean missiles to come raining down and not to the point that
they are evac'ing dependents and civilians.

I don't think we would be on high alert because during war you never know what your going to get...

It's not like NK is going to say " Okay ready for us to strike you? great... here it comes"

Obviously It will be a surprise attack...

Originally posted by AguyAndAgirl
I don't think we would be on high alert because during war you never know what your going to get... It's not like NK is going to say " Okay ready for us to strike you? great... here it comes" Obviously It will be a surprise attack...

Well .. North Korea IS saying that. They have even given the date - Wednesday of this week - as when things will get kicked up a notch. That is the date they gave for everyone to evac' from their embassies.

Side note - the US military won't wait until missiles are flying before going on alert. If they think it'll happen, they'll go on alert before they fly. A 'surprise attack' they wouldn't .. but what is happening with N. Korea is hardly a surprise attack.

reply to post by FlyersFan


It sounds a bit like the US want some sacrificial lambs, and will allow the Government and media to act in a more indignant manner if they do attack.

It's a bit like the Olympics, i.e. the US only report on US wins.
The US media & Govt. will need some US casualties.

Kinda like how benghazi didn't take things seriously? When they say don't worry is when I start too.

If I was living in North or South Korea...I wouldn't care who said what about whether it is safe to stay or not...I would get my family together and I would pack up and leave...I think it is better to be extra cautious...than to be taken by surprise.

Well here goes my planned vacation in NK.

reply to post by FlyersFan

The only thing suspicious .. the website for The US Forces Korea is down.
Supposedly an 'internal server issue'. It's been down for a at least a few days.

If I was a commander, I would have had it taken down just to avoid anyone putting anything too informative up there....just sayin'......

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by AguyAndAgirl
I don't think we would be on high alert because during war you never know what your going to get... It's not like NK is going to say " Okay ready for us to strike you? great... here it comes" Obviously It will be a surprise attack...

Well .. North Korea IS saying that. They have even given the date - Wednesday of this week - as when things will get kicked up a notch. That is the date they gave for everyone to evac' from their embassies.

Side note - the US military won't wait until missiles are flying before going on alert. If they think it'll happen, they'll go on alert before they fly. A 'surprise attack' they wouldn't .. but what is happening with N. Korea is hardly a surprise attack.

For any type of invasion NK will need to move troops, supplies and equipment up to the border. They will have sortie their fleet and deploy anti air assets etc. Without those things NK is capable of causing some trouble but, not of launching an invasion of the south. The US has more than prepared for trouble but, until the North takes certain actions they do not need to over react. On top of that neither the North or the South has made a move to activate reserves, that is a clear sign niether side is expecting a full scale war.

We all know how the staff at the Libya embassy were treated

Originally posted by AguyAndAgirl
I don't think we would be on high alert because during war you never know what your going to get...

It's not like NK is going to say " Okay ready for us to strike you? great... here it comes"

Obviously It will be a surprise attack...

This is funny. A suprise attack in Korea is impossible. How are you going to position a couple hundred thousand troops and all their equipment near the border for an invasion and expect to keep it a secret?

We probably have every piece of NK equipment located and marked on a map somewhere and will know the instant they begin prepping for war. I'm sure we are even monitoring the ground to make sure no tunnels are being dug.

NK is not going to do something we don't know about first.

reply to post by Hopechest


What is funny is the fact that everyone assumes that a surprise attack can only be ground force troops invading. Keep in mind that NK can shell SK with minimal troop movement and it would go largely undetected until the shelling started. There are many "surprise" attack scenarios that could be carried out that would only give a moments notice.

Originally posted by SpaDe_
reply to post by Hopechest

 

What is funny is the fact that everyone assumes that a surprise attack can only be ground force troops invading. Keep in mind that NK can shell SK with minimal troop movement and it would go largely undetected until the shelling started. There are many "surprise" attack scenarios that could be carried out that would only give a moments notice.

Sorry but shelling doesn't get you anything except an immediate shell back in your face. Thats like saying a surprise attack may come from a sniper shooting across the DMZ.

That's not an attack that's an incident. Lobbing a few shells over the border is not a surprise attack at least in military terms or the way the poster I responded to framed it. He was alluding to mass movements across the border in the guise of an invasion. You are not going to do that without us knowing about it.

Could NK open up with an artillery barrage first?

Sure but our response would be immediate. We know all their fixed locations and they would be gone within minutes their air force would out within hours...how do you consider that any sort of surprise attack?

reply to post by Hopechest


surprise attack

noun
an attack without warning

Do I really need to elaborate any further?

Originally posted by SpaDe_
reply to post by Hopechest

 

surprise attack

noun
an attack without warning

Do I really need to elaborate any further?

Nope, I suppose if a NK checkpoint guard spits at a SK guard you have a definition of a surprise attack.

Yea...that's the context in which we were debating.

Thanks for adding your two cents and furthering the discussion.

Originally posted by MrSpad
On top of that neither the North or the South has made a move to activate reserves, that is a clear sign niether side is expecting a full scale war.

Yep. Unless, of course, that the leadership in N. Korea is totally insane and thinks it can just lob a few missiles and claim victory without any retaliation on the part of S. Korea, Japan, or the USA.

Anyways .. what I'm reading from our embassy and the military bases ...
nothing big is expected.

No country can go to war without doing preparations first. It would be impossible for NK to do this in secret given the small land mass on which they operate. They have 500,000 active duty troops and moving them into position for an invasion would be spotted within minutes. Unless they are all moved underground, which is possible I suppose, we will see it.

Even without that, there will be signs such as the stocking up of supplies for their above ground units that will be clearly visible to us so there is no possibility of a surprise attack. The only surprise they could manage to pull off would be to infiltrate their special forces into major SK targets and pull off something like the Tet offensive but even that would quickly be put down.

Now given their numbers, they could quickly rush everything to the border and simply overrun the American's and SK forces but it would only be temporary as we will simply send more troops, along with Japanese and Australian forces and push them back like we did last time.

reply to post by Hopechest

I agree with you. No country would .. (unless the leadership was absolutely bonkers). And at this point, there is no indication from our Armed Forces and our Embassies that there is any kind of super-prep going on with S. Korea, Japan, or the US Armed Forces.

It's up to China to slap N. Korea upside the head and straighten them out.
N. Korea is it's puppet ....

I'm shamlessly bumping this thread ...
I'm seeing a lot of 'we all are going to be at war tomorrow' type threads ...
This information still stands ....

With a heavy heart and deep regret i must point out that North Korea may well do something we dont expect like activate sleeper cells in places like Washington DC or other capitol cities like London and launch some form of WMD, perhaps a chemcial attack maybe? I just feel in my bones that something is going to happen and it wont be a happy event. I really do think the world needs to unite over this and send in a UN task force if he dares send one missile over the DMZ. After weeks of NK being a pain in the backside they deserve no less. I am sure both Russia and China have had enough too in all honesty.