by Tom Rogan
Were they to receive 4.7 million new volunteers, the North Korean armed forces would be less able to fulfill its overriding war objective: the forcible reunification of North and South Korea.
This is relevant, in that North Korean state propaganda announced on Thursday, that 4.7 million of its citizens have now volunteered to join the military. North Korea intends for this volunteer pledge to intimidate the U.S. and South Korea, and make the threat of war appear ever closer.
Yet in functional utility, 4.7 million additional soldiers would hinder rather than help North Korea's power projection capability.
First off, 4.7 million new soldiers represent a lot of mouths to feed, and a lot of uniforms, beds, rifles, and ammunition to supply. Where would the increasingly-strangled North Korean economy scrape up the funds and material to supply such a vast mobilization effort? Moreover, in the event of war, how would it maintain a supply line to so many personnel? This concern is accentuated in that many of the new conscripts would likely be drawn from wartime supply production roles.
North Korea might think that throwing an additional 4.7 million soldiers onto the battlefield would allow it to concentrate force against the smaller U.S. and South Korean battlegroups, but doing so would stretch its supply lines far beyond the breaking point. As Napoleon learned in his 1812 invasion of Russia, however well-trained or well-led (neither of which applies to North Korean forces) an offensive army is, absent effective supply, its warfighting ability evaporates.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/any-north-korean-invasion-would-be-weakened-by-47-million-new-conscripts/article/2636107
