[user104658]

Originally Posted by smeagol

of all the counties and pointless wars we are involved in. you'd think they'd pick one worthy like go to north korea in massive force wipe out the army re store a new power and problem solved.
most of the people are fine and have to live under that fear. bout time someone done something about them,

NK isn't like the middle east, though. We wouldn't be having full-page spreads for two of three KIA servicemen at a time like we do with the ill-equipped middle eastern states using outdated AK47s, home-made bombs and a few RPGs...

The NK isn't the BEST equipped military in the world, most of its equipment is quite old in comparison to western forces, and they could be wiped out relatively easily with a concentrated effort, however they do have:

- A workable Navy
- An airforce with over 1500 military aircraft
- A conscripted, somewhat trained army of over 1 million soldiers
- A significant number of chemical weapons with ballistic capability
- Rudimentary nuclear weapons


In short; they could be defeated and without any western collateral damage; they have no viable way of attacking Western nations or even South Korea really, who have a much higher grade of military tech, HOWEVER... it would be very expensive in terms of both military resources, and we would be counting death stats for "our own" troops rather than mentioning them by name.