Swedish king pledges support for Korean peace
Published: 31 May 12 13:30 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/41168/20120531/
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf on Thursday pledged his country's continued support to help maintain peace between North and South Korea, through its membership of a truce monitoring body.
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Officials from Sweden and Switzerland have served with the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission at the border village of Panmunjom since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a full peace treaty.
The two European nations - which did not send combat forces during the war - was designated by the United Nations Command to observe and maintain ceasefire conditions.
The king, making his first state visit to South Korea this week, will visit the tense border area Friday to meet Swedish officials there.
"We are very proud that we are still here... we need to stay as long as needed," the king said, adding Stockholm was looking forward to an improvement in cross-border relations in the future.
About 1,000 Swedish officials in total have served for the past six decades as part of the commission in the demilitarised buffer zone straddling the border, he added.
Sweden has diplomatic missions in both Koreas, which technically remain at war. Cross-border ties have been icy since the North's alleged sinking of a Seoul warship and its deadly shelling of a South Korean border island in 2010.
King Carl XVI Gustaf held talks with President Lee Myung-Bak Wednesday to discuss ways to deepen ties in the economy, science and trade.
He made five personal visits to South Korea from 1987 to 2008 before this week's state occasion.
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In reality, if the retarded son of the former North Korean leader wanted to march the North Korean army down into south Korea it would be a blitzkrieg that no group of nations could stop.
This is not in the best interest of the North Korean leaders as exposure to South Korea by the millions in the North Korean army would negate the decades of propaganda which drums into North Korean citizens that everybody else has two heads and they are out to get everyone in North Korea.
"In reality, if the retarded son of the former North Korean leader wanted to march the North Korean army down into south Korea it would be a blitzkrieg that no group of nations could stop."
Sorry, mate. This is based on what info? The times where a running million of people overwhelmed fortified placements are over. One MLRS can make a square kilometer of earth a very unpleasant place to be in.
NK has two short range fleets that would dissappear in the first hours of war without even seeing th enemy.
It has 35 MiG-29 which could pose certain danger. South Korea has double than F-15s. As for the rest - NK has an enormous, but absolete aiforce that cannot possibly penetrate the modern SK air defences and much more modern airforce. The most modern tank is T-62, which is a coffin on wheels these days. What it has a lot - is artillery, which does not help much in a blitzkrieg. Besides, NK needs supplies, fuel, parts, CASEVACS.
Their population is starving.
If they get stuck (and they will) their families will simply drop dead, as all the resources will go to the army and no help from outside will come. Great motivation for an army.
The idea of the "peacekeepers" is to register who attacked first. Not to stop the 10 million army from the north.
I gotta agree with Uncle here. The terrain is different than the middle east but the results would be the same. The issue would be how many nukes he's got and could they hit them first if war looks inevitable.
The human wave formations that worked well in the 1950's would be a very poor choice for a modern war.
Nope, I respectfully disagree with both of you fine gentlemen on this issue and stand by my original statements.
The massive standing army of North Korea could storm South Korea as easily as the massive United States army supplemented with a huge international force which took months to assemble.
A threat/provocation/attack to Non-US Territory would take weeks/months to respond with ground troops. It is a simple matter of logistics. Yes, I believe their would be a significant air campaign within days. Within weeks(hours but limited), a missile assault on North Korea.
However; within the first days North Korean forces would over run more than half of South Korea.
I do not see this anywhere in the future. When North Korea's elite need more funds to supplement their lavish lifestyle while the communist workers toil hungry in the barren fields they do a little sabre rattling and the various stooge countries(USA includes) heap large sums of cash on them to keep them happy. It would be insane for North Korea to make a move on South Korea. The retarded son of the former insane dictator of North Korea would probably be shot by his own body guards if he attempted such an action.
The marines take the beach, the army takes the field and the Air force obliterates all strategic military and industrial assets while softening the enemy for the ARMY ground forces. That is how it works. Ground is not retaken by air. Love all of the armed services(especially the Marines and Air Force) but still to this day the Army rules! -Paul
You forget the South Korean army and I do not understand why. It is way more modern, has better satellite imaging backup from the US (and therefore the knowledge), better air force, anti-tank weapons that slice through the old NK tanks like through butter, UAV's, superior air defenses, multiple-launch rocket systems that are so effective that Israel does not get to use them without an OK from the US even in the middle of fiercest fighting, choking points, supplies, armor advantage that is comparable to the Tiger against Sherman in the WWII and in ADDITION as a BONUS 30 thousand americans stationed there + international forces, precision weaponry that can behead the soviet style army within hours, but you still think that they can move deeper than 1 mile into South Korea... I simply do not understand - based on what? Do you really believe that they can actually run, screaming "hurraaaa" to half of SK with their rusty cannons?
I see your point, very good response, thank you for taking the time to clear things up for me. -Paul
Open letter to The Royal Court of Sweden about King of Sweden (read in "My Notes") - http://www.facebook.com/Helge.Kroupski