‘US could lose Korean war’
> Former top commander says military outnumbered and under-supplied
WASHINGTON: The US military would find itself outnumbered and under-supplied if war broke out with North Korea, a former top commander in the region has reportedly claimed.
US troops “are vastly outnumbered by North Korean forces, as well as (allied) forces that will conduct the overwhelming majority of the fighting”, according to retired Lt Gen Jan-Marc Jouas.
They would also face problems in getting reinforcements or new supplies, he claimed, saying fresh troops “may well find their bases subject to attack by conventional or chemical weapons, which will further delay their entry into the war”.
In a letter to Congress, obtained by Newsweek, Jouas, who was deputy commander of US Forces Korea from January 2012 to 2014, said even limited military action against Kim Jong-Un’s regime would be likely to precipitate a fullscale war, yet would probably not destroy Pyongyang’s nuclear capability totally.
“An enormous casualty and evacuee crisis will develop and include over 100,000 non-combatant Americans, many of who will turn to US forces to get them off the peninsula.”
The use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang could not be ruled out, he said.
US personnel in South Korea number about 28,500, he said, though reports place recent figures both higher and lower.
An all-out war with North Korea would be bloody in the extreme, experts believe, as the country has huge amounts of ordnance aimed at the South Korean capital Seoul, which is just a few dozen miles from the demilitarised zone.
US defence secretary James Mattis has said the results of conflict would be “catastrophic”.
According to US think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, Pyongyang has some 1.1 million personnel in its armed forces.
It added in a recent analysis: “Although Pyongyang is outspent by its neighbours and adversaries in dollar-to-dollar comparisons and defence experts say it operates with ageing equipment and technology, the regime’s forward-deployed military position and missiles aimed at Seoul ensure that Pyongyang’s conventional capabilities remain a constant threat to its southern neighbour.”
Jouas’ letter comes at a time of heightened tension between the US and North Korea, and as US President Donald Trump is in the middle of a tour of the AsiaPacific.
Trump appears to have introduced a softer tone to his statements on North Korea.
In Seoul earlier this week, he said: “It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for its people and the world.” – The Independent