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North Korea continues to posture as if preparing for war, while claiming to simply be preparing
to defend.
But if war broke out, there’s a good chance that North Korea would find themselves defeated.
Today we’ll explore the consequences of this defeat as we ask the question: What if
North Korea Lost World War 3?
Now, when discussing World War 3, it’s difficult to determine who would be on what side.
Alliances would depend greatly on what started the war, whether it was North Korea launching
an attack, Russia encroaching into Europe, or an escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict…
the spark of the war would determine the alliances in the war.
For this reason, I’ll disregard that aspect for the most part, and focus on the implications
for North Korea and the surrounding countries.
If North Korea Lost World War 3, it is more or less certain that the current government
would be removed, and perhaps replaced by a more democratic government, similar to that
of South Korea.
This would have a pretty huge effect on the people of North Korea.
As one of the most restricted populations on Earth, citizens of North Korea would be
in for a hell of a shock when they suddenly were able to go anywhere, do anything, and
learn about all the things that had been kept from them over the years.
It would be particularly jarring to the members of the population that believed the propaganda
put forth by their government.
Those who knew they were being oppressed would feel immense relief, finally able to live
comfortably in the country they call home.
This change of leadership could bring about an event that many Koreans have waited decades
for: the Koreas could be reunited.
If the North was taken out from under the oppressive dictatorship, there’s a good
chance that the North and South would once again become one.
This would likely cause the North Koreans to assimilate with South Korean culture, which
would take some time, but would ultimately result in much healthier and happier people.
This might take some time, however, since North Korea would have spent a good deal of
its time in war attacking South Korea.
It could be that the southern neighbours wouldn’t be so quick to forgive those in the North,
regardless of the involuntary and misinformed nature of their involvement.
This would likely bring about emigration out of North Korea into China, something that
China is hoping to avoid.
In terms of punishment for their actions, there’s a fairly good chance that the sanctions
on the defeated North Korea by the victors would be rather minimal, once a new government
was in place.
Given the oppressive regime, misinformation of the citizens, and overall lack of resources
in the country, it’s more likely that the victors in the war would aid the country to
rebuild and rejoin the south, rather than imparting punishments like in Nazi Germany.
South Korea’s reunification fund would aid with this, and other allied countries would
likely assist with this as well.
Unfortunately, not everything would be sunshine and daisies.
Just because the North lost the war, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have done damage.
This brings us to one important implication to the world outside North Korea.
If it looked like North Korea was going to lose the war, there’s a chance that they
would fire their nuclear weapons to take as many of their enemies with them as possible.
This would be devastating for the surrounding countries, and this possibility is a significant
factor that keeps North Korea relatively safe now.
So, a defeated North Korea could spell disaster for neighbouring countries if Kim Jong Un
acted in the childish and brutal way he’s known to act.
And now we return to our question: What if North Korea Lost World War 3?
Well, unlike most losing nations, life would probably get quite a bit better for the people
of North Korea, if they received assistance from victorious countries.
With the government defeated and replaced, the people could begin to rebuild, potentially
rejoining the South to become a unified Korea.
Strain between China and the West would be somewhat lessened, without the toddler that
is North Korea throwing nuclear temper tantrums every so often, although they may not be too
pleased about the influx of North Korean immigrants.
Finally, and ominously, any potential progress in the region could be completely ruined if
North Korea decided to go out with a bang.
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