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[Owlbread]

I think they may be a teeny bit past walt- levels.

Well, what about Walt's fixation with the Jewish menace and the creation of a pure, white, all-American town to last the ages? Not far off Juche. Juche is actually much more sane.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Might not be as exciting as you think. I wish someone would do a (publicly available, since I'm sure this exists somewhere in US military archives) projection of how long NK could stay in fighting shape before total supply collapse and mass routing. It probably wouldn't be very long.

You've said this before, but what are you basing that on besides the fact that the army is starving, malnourished and poorly equipped? That sure as hell didn't stop guerilla fighters all over the world. I think it'd probably make them even more batshit crazy. This is everything they have been preparing and training for for the last 60 years. Walt Disney crazy, we're talking here.

North Korea is not in a position to wage effective guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla fighters are supported by a strong support network amongst the population they are based upon, a decentralized war economy (think Taliban gunsmiths), and/either/or a high position in the black market to make capital with which to buy weapons (once again, Taliban poppy fields and emerald mines).

North Korea doesn't have this. They'd be a lot more dangerous if they did, but North Korea's military is oriented to dug-in line fighting with mass conscripts supplemented by lots of mid-to-long range artillery. And this would actually be a really good way to defend North Korea except for the supply problem. This manner of fighting has a critical reliance upon regular and substantial resupply, which we know they are incapable of just by looking at their peacetime supply failures.

Blast, I apologise. But yes, I am indeed a Brit. For now, at least. We will probably find it easier to get into the North than an American or... god forbid... a South Korean.

South Koreans can get in under certain contexts, mostly when NK is in a reunifying mood.

[Owlbread]

North Korea is not in a position to wage effective guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla fighters are supported by a strong support network amongst the population they are based upon, a decentralized war economy (think Taliban gunsmiths), and/either/or a high position in the black market to make capital with which to buy weapons (once again, Taliban poppy fields and emerald mines).

North Korea doesn't have this. They'd be a lot more dangerous if they did, but North Korea's military is oriented to dug-in line fighting with mass conscripts supplemented by lots of mid-to-long range artillery. And this would actually be a really good way to defend North Korea except for the supply problem. This manner of fighting has a critical reliance upon regular and substantial resupply, which we know they are incapable of just by looking at their peacetime supply failures.

That doesn't mean however that they would just last for about a week then route and you can all have a glass of champagne. I would predict a lengthy war of cutting out and excising North Korean holdouts and fortresses dotted across the country. They wouldn't last as long as the Taliban as you have illustrated, but they would last for a fair bit. I'm thinking of Mali but maybe as long as a year and lots and lots of casualties and brutality.

South Koreans can get in under certain contexts, mostly when NK is in a reunifying mood.

That is true, I have heard they have a special seaside resort in the South.

[jimboo]

I meant to post this some time ago, forgot, so it isn't on the current page, posting link:

http://bigthink.com/purpose-inc/michael-malices-dear-reader-the-unauthorized-autobiography-of-kim-jong-il

“Dear Reader” is a take on the caricature Asian pronunciation of “Dear Leader,” get it?
It is an interesting tale of the situation from someone who’s been there to study it.  The blog is a short read.

[Guardian G.I.]

I meant to post this some time ago, forgot, so it isn't on the current page, posting link:

http://bigthink.com/purpose-inc/michael-malices-dear-reader-the-unauthorized-autobiography-of-kim-jong-il

“Dear Reader” is a take on the caricature Asian pronunciation of “Dear Leader,” get it?
It is an interesting tale of the situation from someone who’s been there to study it.  The blog is a short read.

An immigrant from the former Soviet Union, the thirty-six year old with spikey hair, cunning eyes, and a constant mischievous grin has made a name for himself in a number of strange ways. [...] The project was inspired by the totalitarian regime that he and his family escaped in the Soviet Union...

Judging by the age provided in the article, Michael Malice was born in 1977 and emigrated with his family in the 1980s.
The USSR ceased being a totalitarian state in the 1950s, about 20 years before he was born.

[Owlbread]

Well, the definition of totalitarian is usually as follows: "Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed". I think post 1950s USSR fits that bill quite neatly. Totalitarianism doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get hanged if you make jokes about the leader's height, it can actually be quite banal, mundane and depressing.

[Aseaheru]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So... sorta the us at this point?

I wonder if there is a form where a select group who are not technically the government do that.

Ramble.

[Devling]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So... sorta the us at this point?
I wonder if there is a form where a select group who are not technically the government do that.

Ramble.

No? I mean, you could argue that everything we do is touched by the government, or that the individual is subordinated to the state, but I think that opposing political and cultural expression are definitely not suppressed.

[Scoops Novel]

SalmonGod could tell you a lot about government efforts upon Occupy Wallstreet, I'm sure.

[IronyOwl]

I'm reminded of the fact that the definition for "terrorist" had to specify non-government entities to function.

Everything's a matter of degrees. You're not going to find a definition for an oppressive regime that doesn't apply at least a little to a free and open one unless it's stupidly specific and arbitrary. There's always going to be parallels between cracking down on protestors against government corruption and cracking down on people wearing other people's skins as protest to everyone not worshiping Gal'Gar the Unchanging.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

SalmonGod could tell you a lot about government efforts upon Occupy Wallstreet, I'm sure.

Everyone's oppressed.

[kaijyuu]

Gal'Gar the Unchanging.

I have a new patron deity.

[Loud Whispers]

Gal'Gar the Unchanging.

I have a new patron deity.

Now you see, this is exactly what I mean when I say society's morals are being eroded. There was once a time when people were all God-fearing and sacrificed a man a day to keep Quetzacoatl away, but nooooo everyone wants to be an edgy rebel and worship Gal'Gar.

[Sirus]

Gal'Gar the Unchanging.

I have a new patron deity.

Now you see, this is exactly what I mean when I say society's morals are being eroded. There was once a time when people were all God-fearing and sacrificed a man a day to keep Quetzacoatl Critzacoatl away, but nooooo everyone wants to be an edgy rebel and worship Gal'Gar.

Mention not that pretender's name.

[miauw62]

Best Korean beach resorts.

Said this maybe a page or 2 ago.

Damn my lazyness.