It's a rumble in the jungle, a showdown on the
38th parallel. The hermit kingdom of North Korea versus the United States of America. Kim Jong
Un vs... well, we're not sure who really because this script was written before the presidential
election. It's the American bald eagle versus the North Korean... trash pigeon?... doesn't
really seem like North Korea has an official national animal. It's a showdown the world's
been expecting for decades, but how do these two antagonist powers stack up? Who really has the
advantage in a showdown on the Korean Peninsula? For this scenario let's compare the two
countries alone, and without the help of allies, to see how they really measure up against each
other. Overall the United States is ranked as the world's number 1 military power, and
currently the only global superpower. It's a common mistake to call Russia or China
superpowers, but the definition of a superpower is a state that can exert economic, cultural,
and military influence worldwide. Currently, the US is the only nation with the military
fleets and cultural/economic clout to do so. North Korea is no slouch though in the
military department, and despite being a financially destitute hermit kingdom, it's
managed to field a military that places it at the number 25 spot in global rankings. This is
because most of the official budget of the North Korean government goes to its military,
and the military also receives hundreds of millions in covert financing, typically the
result of state-sponsored criminal enterprises. In terms of manpower, the United States fields
an active duty force of 1.4 million personnel, versus North Korea's 1.28 million. The US
also fields a greater force of reservists, with 860,000 personnel vs North Korea's reserve
force of 600,000. The US barely has the numbers advantage here, but in a grueling multi-year
conflict, the US has the population advantage, with 4.2 million reaching service age every
year versus North Korea's measely 415,000. If North Korea wants to win, clearly it has
to secure victory as quickly as possible. Wars cost money though, and turns out
it's an extremely expensive affair. The latest US defense budget is about $750
billion, versus North Korea's 1.6 billion. This ofcourse is only the official government
figure, and North Korea's real defense budget is easily hundreds of millions greater thanks to
all that black market activity- remember kids, doing drugs may seem tubular, but you're
just helping north korea go nuclear. But let's check out all the
toys that those big budgets buy. In the air the US fields 13,264
aircraft, versus North Korea's 949. Not only is there a massive numbers disparity,
but a huge disparity in capabilities as well. The US currently relies on the F-15 Eagle, and
the F-18 Superhornet as its primary air defense and air attack platforms. These two aircraft are
4th generation models, but have received serious upgrades to their capabilities which boost them
into a 4.5th generation capability. Complimenting US fighter forces are 187 F-22s, the world's
only fully operational 5th generation fighter and officially the world's deadliest fighter
aircraft. As more and more F-35s come online however and achieve initial operational
capability status, the entire US fighter fleet is poised to become fully 5th generation, a
significant battlefield advantage against any foe. North Korean air forces are decades behind the
US in capability. It's most numerous fighter aircraft, the Chengdu J-7, was developed in the
1960s and exported by China. It's most capable aircraft, the Mig-29, was developed in the 1970s
as a counter to the American F-15- however North Korea's Mig 29s number at only 35, and it's
believed that they lack anything resembling modern avionics. To make matters worse, North
Korea's entire inventory of air-to-air missiles herald back to the Cold War, and the
nation possesses less than 500 of them. An air battle between the US and North Korea would
be hopeless for the hermit kingdom, which is why its pilots are trained in kamikaze tactics. If war
were to break out, North Korea's air force would launch one-way attacks across the DMZ, knowing
its air force could never survive an air war. In the mountainous terrain of North Korea,
perhaps no aircraft is more important however than the attack helicopter. Capable of taking
out armored forces and providing recon and fire support in places regular aircraft would find
it difficult to operate, attack helicopters would be of paramount importance in a showdown
between the two countries. The United States fields an inventory of 967 Apache helicopters,
one of the deadliest attack helos ever built. Not only is each Apache equipped with
state of the art electronics and sensors, but these agile birds are extremely tough
to boot. When an entire flight of Apaches was ambushed in a protracted battle against
insurgents on the ground in Afghanistan, the US famously only lost a single bird
while decimating ground forces below them. North Korea's 20 attack helos are Soviet-built
Mig-24 'Hinds', an extremely capable attack helicopter that despite being dated, still packs
an impressive punch. Good thing for US ground forces that North Korea only operates a small
amount of these powerful Russian birds of prey. On the ground, North Korea is almost neck and
neck with the US in terms of armored forces. With 6,045 combat tanks versus the US's 6,289,
the two tank armies are almost evenly matched in terms of numbers. In terms of quality though,
well, North Korea once more suffers greatly. North Korea's most formidable tank is a
native upgrade to the Soviet T-62 known as Ch'ŏnma-ho. With the T-62 being North Korea's
most numerous, nearly modern design, large numbers of them were upgraded with new armor, fire and
sighting systems, and other sensors. In effect, these may be upgraded designs, but the core
model is still the 1960's era T-62. It's known that North Korea operates at least 1,000 of
these tanks, but may have upwards of 1,200. North Korea's second most prolific
tank is the T-54 and T-55, of which it operates 2,000. These dated,
underpowered tanks were terrifying when first fielded by the Soviet Union in the 50s,
but as Iraq found out in the first gulf war, present absolutely zero threat to the
US's modern Abrams. On the ground, North Korea's tank forces simply could not hope
to do more than delay an American armored advance. One area where North Korea rises above the US
though is in the size of its rocket artillery forces, fielding 2,110 versus the US's 1,366.
Rocket artillery may not have the endurance of fire of traditional artillery, but provides
one extremely crucial advantage over regular artillery- by firing all of its munitions in
extremely rapid succession, rocket artillery puts all of its steel on target within seconds, giving
troops and vehicles little time to seek cover. While the US fields more modern versions of rocket
projectors, the technology is so simple that even North Korea's soviet-era technology poses a
significant and deadly threat to US forces. On the seas, the US fields a fleet of
490 ships versus North Korea's 984. North Korea may seem to have the
advantage in numbers, but that's because the vast majority of its ships are
small torpedo boats that can't operate far from shore. The second largest element of
North Korea's navy is its underwater forces, with one of the world's largest submarine
forces numbering anywhere between 60 to 80. 40 of these subs are the medium-
sized diesel electric Sang-O class, built in the late 90s. While not particularly
advanced versus the US Navy's Los Angeles and Virginia class nuclear submarines, diesel-electric
submarines used in a defensive posture close to shore can be an incredibly effective
force, even if technologically outclassed. By loitering near the shore and
running silently on battery power, North Korea could simply choose to have
these subs lie in wait for oncoming US ships and launch deadly ambushes. The nation's
willingness to operate these craft in a kamikaze style similar to its air force only adds to the
deadliness of North Korea's submarine force. By comparison the US operates 66 submarines, most
of which are Los Angeles class attack submarines. These are in the process of being phased out
by the new Virginia class, which incorporates many of the Seawolf class technologies at a
lower cost- and thus with less effectiveness than the deadly Seawolf, which is sadly far
too expensive to field in large numbers. 3 of the legendary Seawolf class submarines
remain in service with the Navy, with no near-term plans to retire them, though
the Navy is planning on acquiring a new modern variant of the Seawolf to use on
extremely important or sensitive missions. With 20 aircraft carriers, which includes smaller
carriers meant to support amphibious operations, the US is guaranteed to have air power anywhere in
the world it needs it. By comparison North Korea has zero aircraft carriers, and could not hope to
ever operate one in its current economic climate- let alone ensure it survives
first contact against US forces. Despite all of these naval advantages to
the US though, North Korea once more has the advantage in one area: mine warfare. With
23 vessels specially equipped to mine sea lanes, versus the US's 11, North Korea is poised to
make an amphibious attack against it by the superior US fleet a costly affair in terms of
manpower and equipment. Clearing sea mines is an extremely time consuming and dangerous
affair, and with so many mine-laying ships North Korea could make entire beaches and
ports completely inaccessible to US forces. The military advantage is clearly in favor of
the United States, but a showdown between the two countries is far more nuanced than merely
comparing numbers. The US must maintain global commitments even during a war, meaning that it
wouldn't be able to commit more than 30-40% of its total force to a conflict with North Korea. That
brings the number parity way down on the US side, though the US's far superior equipment and
training, or force multipliers, practically ensure a US victory. However, it would be an extremely
costly victory for the US and its allies, as North Korea is well prepared to make a push
north from South Korea an exceedingly bloody affair. With its mine laying capabilities,
the North Korean navy could make the ocean around the Korean peninsula inaccessible for
weeks, disrupting not just military operations but civilian traffic as well and shutting down
one of the busiest trade arteries in the world. Then there's North Korea's nuclear program,
the full extent of which is still not known. What is clear is that North Korea has the
materials and technology for several bombs- some estimates place the current North Korean
stockpile at 30-40 weapons. Even though most of these weapons couldn't reach the US mainland,
they would make any conflict on the peninsula an extremely dangerous affair- with a losing Kim Jong
Un likely to decide to use nuclear weapons against US forces and South Korea rather than be
deposed as so many dictators before him. Now go check out Weird Things That Only Exist
in North Korea, or this other video instead!
