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!