Uh, wow.
No, we couldn't negotiate with China to look the other way. Russia may or may not care, but China certainly does. Remember, we essentially LOST the Korean War. Or rather, tied for the last 50 years. We assumed we'd roll over a bunch of silly little Asians, and well, gee, we got steamrolled by the PRC Army. We don't have enough carpet bombs to hit even a fraction of NK. Besides, they dig tunnels like no tomorrow. We have penetrators, but only so many of them. NK doesn't have the military to take SK, but they have the ability to kill millions of SK citizens and wreck plenty of infrastructure.
The reason why everyone allows NK to continue as it is? No one wants to foot the bill of dealing with NK. Bombs and bullets are only a tiny fraction of the true cost of destroying the NK government. After unification (if ever), SK would have to spend 10-20% of its GDP for at least a generation on expenses. More likely, three generations. Each and every NK citizen is essentially a concentration camp survivor. You're talking generations of therapy and psychological work. The existing people will need extensive medical treatment due to malnutrition and disease. Hell, dental work alone would be in the billions of dollar. Not to mention, how many shrinks in the world speak Korean? The current generation would be a near total write off. The next two or three generations would be problematic to varying degrees.
Neither China nor SK want to pay those costs. Hell, Boomhauer, what would you do to avoid seeing an extra 10-20% of your paycheck for the rest of your life going to the largest welfare program in modern history? To people that are barely civilized, uneducated, untrustworthy and unable to function in modern times? You wouldn't be willing to shoot down Allied bombers to avoid you, your kids and your grandkids paying that cost?
Even if you would be willing to support the most comprehensive welfare package ever considered, about half of South Koreans aren't.
This.
The Norks have been brainwashed to view the ROK and Americans as worse then "The Great Satan". They would not welcome us with open arms but damn near every Nork would fight to the death. The first offensive move on our part would unleash the Nork Army which would invade SK pretty much wiping Seoul off the map in the fighting.
Then even
IF we did "Win" All one has to do is read the stories of how damn near impossible it is to get Nork escapees to "adapt" to western culture/life to see what a monumental humanitarian disaster re-unification will be. The ROK's saw what happened in German re-unification as to the costs and problems and quickly realized that that was a cake walk compared to what they'll face with the North when it finally implodes.
Germany had the advantage of "Ossie's" who had come from a somewhat Democratic/Representative government past (Pre-WWII). Along with familiarity with the West (via TV and Radio, try as they might the Stasi/KGB couldn't stop the signal
) along with quite a bit of smuggled consumer goods and some travel/contact with the West . (Blue Jeans anyone?)
North Korea has none of that. (Although smugglers are beginning to operating along the Chinese Border simply due to the almost total collapse of the Nork command economy in the early 2000's.)
There's no history of democratic/representative government. Period. Some imperial self-rule in the distant past, but they've mostly been colonial serfs of either the Chinese or Japanese. Which were far better conditions then what they live under now.
There's practically zero contact with the west. Yes, there's a factory area Kaesong, but North Korean workers are kept tightly controlled and have practically zero contact with the South Korean managers and owners.
Radios and TV can only receive Nork channels. There is no Interwebz access. While DVD players are being smuggled in (along
with US/Chinese/ROK TV and movie DVD's) Electricity is only available for a few hours each day in the major cities, and non-existent in the countryside. Plus, the Nork police will shut off power to apartment blocks and then go room by room to find DVD players, then pop out the DVD's. If the one you're watching is not on Uncle Kim's approved list, off to the Gulag with you, your family, and all your relatives. Where you enter a new level of hell.
Over one-third of Norks work in agriculture, yet they are severely malnourished, as without large quantities of ROK and US food aid the population would starve. There have already been several famines within the past 2 decades. It's amazing how communist/socialist economies always seem to have nothing but bad harvests due to weather. Year after year after year. But they are malnourished to the point that they are 6-8 inches shorter then their ROK cousins in the south. In less then 60 years.
So a nation of xenophobic midgets who have lived their entire lives being told not only what to do, but what to think, that worships one "family" trying to be integrated into western society.
Nuking them might actually be the best option.
