Korea and BJDs

[Calivano]

I was just thinking about the ceasefire between North Korea and South Korea. If you haven't been keeping up with the news, basically North Korea says it is ending the ceasefire with South Korea that was signed in 1953, which ended the Korean War. It is basically a retaliation against the US and The United Nations for sanctions placed against N Korea for its persuit of nuclear launch capabilities. So North Korea wants to go to war to show everybody how mad they are; To war with South Korea. With all this saber rattling, I wonder what effect this will have on our beloved South Korean Bjd companies like Luts, DIM, Iplehouse and others. It would be horrible if they went to war. Human casualties aside, What effect do you think this would have on the BJD world?

[knittnkitten]

north korea depends too much on food and fertilizer imports to actually do anything. they know the moment they step out of line, it's all over and their populace starves to death more then they already are.

[victoriavictrix]

This is not the first, second, or even third time this has happened. Basically North Korea goes ballistic every chance they can, and "cancels the armistice" at least once every 2-3 years. You probably aren't old enough to remember the last time they did this (about 2 years ago), but I was born at the START of the Korean War (1950) and this a "check your calender. Yep, right on time" for me.

[quidam]

I don't know if I'm so eager to write it off completely. It is a new leader, and while he is from the same family, we really don't know much about his personality yet.
What I find interesting is that when he started the sabre rattling the U.S. government basically yawned and said "more of the same", which has been the standard response over the years. Yet within a few months, they are suddenly calling them a credible threat and are even talking of shoring up our west coast defensive system. So, somebody somewhere is thinking that he might actually be willing to do more than talk and throw dirt in the air.

I'm not saying I expect it as much as it seems to be taken more seriously lately.

Doll-wise if this were to happen? The Koreas aren't that large. If full scale war were to break out again, dolls certainly won't be any sort of priority. Most companies from the region would probably put a hold on ordering and shipping.

As of this morning, they were also threatening Japan if anything were to start. (According to Korean friends, Korea in general doesn't have a fondness for japan, so it isn't surprising.) So there could even be issues there also if things were to escalate.

Again, hopefully he takes after his father and is just trying to get attention in all the wrong ways. Dolls certainly won't be my worry if things to get out of hand.

[yarwel]

Really, the people in North Korea are suffering, so I think it's more important right now to be concerned about them. I've heard that they have been having food shortages and such; even if their country is threatening war, I can't help but feel worried for them. Hopefully, their government can make a peaceful resolution so they can get help for their people. My prayers go out to them.

[GooglyDooglyV.2]

Human casualties aside, What effect do you think this would have on the BJD world?

Hm. Let's see...

Let's say King Jong-Un's manhood is even smaller than his father, (much much smaller, I bet) and he need to compensate such lack with war, here's what will probably happen.

They will probably do a sneak attack and try to attack various US/ROK radar installations, airbases like Osan and Kusan AB, ports and naval bases like Incheon or Chinhae to eliminate US/ROK defenses and resupply points.

So most likely, shipments of any BJD order will stop. And no matter the outcome, it will take years for South Korea to put back their export industry back to normal.

North Korea will also activate their thousands of sleeper cells and agents. There will be mass panic as agents will conduct a massive campaign of coordinated attacks, bombings, sabotage, kidnappings, and assassinations.

There will be mass arrests of suspected dissidents and provocateurs. So BJD makers might be caught up with all the confusion, in case they unknowingly associate themselves with the wrong people.

Then North Korea will also attack Japan. At least, their ports and airports/airbases. North Korea needs to isolate the Korean peninsula as fast as possible, because they know the logistical capability of the US. North Korea needs to disrupt reinforcements and supplies for at least a week. Thousands of North Korean agents will also wreck chaos in Japan.

Like in Korea, shipments of unnecessary goods like toys from Japan will stop. So it will truly hurt those of us that are waiting patiently for our beloved dollies. While those in the front lines lose their lives and livelihood.

Then the massive ground assault will begin. Seoul will be destroyed. It has been under the range of North Korean's heavy guns and rockets and has been pre-sighted for years. North Korea could also imploy chemical weapons, in order to render Seoul completely useless to the Allies. There will be mass panic and despite ROK's years of planning of evacuation of Seoul, there will be tens of thousands dead. There will be hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing down south as North Korean Infantry and Tank divisions pour across the DMZ like the horde of Satan.

So in all likelihood, those talented BJD sculptors would be among the casualties, forever depriving us of their talents. Something the BJD community can never recover from.

I could go on and on, about how the war most likely would escalate, bringing China and Russia into the scene, with a desperate Kim willing to unleash several nuclear warheads once he see the tide of war is turning against his way. But thinking about all of those BJDs lost, potentially destroyed, and those dolls who will never see the light of day, just depresses the fudge out of me.

[magkelly]

I had a dream last night that was directly (and quite bizarrely) inspired by this thread. In the dream there were thousands of dollies all over the world stopping their feet and clapping their hands and singing "Give Peace a Chance" a la John and Yoko with China Girl from Oz conducting with Glinda's star baton. I think it would make a great protest video, lol...

[Calivano]

Really, the people in North Korea are suffering, so I think it's more important right now to be concerned about them. I've heard that they have been having food shortages and such; even if their country is threatening war, I can't help but feel worried for them. Hopefully, their government can make a peaceful resolution so they can get help for their people. My prayers go out to them.

I shudder at the atrocities being committed by North Korea's dictatorship. Some of the worst involving human experimentation...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_expe ... orth_Korea not to mention numerous human rights violations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_righ ... orth_Korea. Its appaling how one culture (South Korea) has so much beauty and artwork and industriousness and how another culture (North Korea) so closely related can have such horror take place.

[Calivano]

I suspect that cyber warfare may have already begun.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ttack.html

In this 21st century we will be witnessing a new battle frontier...that is the cyber war. With software that can attack banking systems, it poses the potential of robbing enormous amounts of government and public funds, not to mention wrecking havoc on public infrastructure.
Obviously the human casualties are more important than dolls, but humanity and artistic creativity go hand in hand. It would be a tragedy on all fronts if our South Korean friends were to lose their livelihood.