huh i don't know where you get the info that South Koreans do not care about having their ship sunk.
Sure NK has been talking crap for the last few years and more with crazy announcements like "If you continue sanctions we will go for an ALL-OUT war", but they actually made a military strike on them this time. Even for a country like NK, that is not just sound and fury..
After decades of tensions, sure South Koreans are used to having NK doing their thing, but this is already escalating quickly. I don't get why SK did not declare war, i am sure it has to do with the UN. Imagine the US having it's ship sunk not by "terrorists", but by an actual country, and having that country telling them to basically f*ck off or they will declare all-out war...
And NK could actually damage South Korea, they got missile batteries that can reach Seoul apparently. My friend lives in SK and tells me right now it's ok, since nobody really "felt" the attack, but there is concerns for sure. Apparently there are some demonstrations of some pissed off SKoreans demanding war...
The ironic thing is that NK would stand the most to lose in a war, as
1) they will probably lose if the rest of the world helps.
2) their economy of what's left of it is just dead, more sanctions is just nailing that coffin.
3) Even if they somehow win or don't lose, they probably will still get sanctionned to death by the UN, and you can be sure South Korea is not going to get taken by NK.
I just don't get NK diplomacy and strategy.. if there is any.
By the way, if they go to war, America somehow goes to war as well, as i just learned that the Korean army was still under US command in times of war(!). And i don't think America would appreciate losing a war, even if it's not with it's own troops.
War is not great on any economy, unless one country simply dominates the other(then it's not war, it's just taking over a country).
I don't think anybody wants that war except SK, so it's not going to happen. I hope...
I think as soon as Kim dies, we can expect NK to change, for better or worse. There is so little info on his successor that it's hard to tell, but NK has been in so much crap that i think it can only get better. I think it would be hoping for too much to get a reunification... maybe in 10 years? Kim has to die first..