Consequences of a possible war between North Korea and South Korea (and USA) to the automotive world

Every war is bad, it takes the lives of hundreds, thousands or even millions of people and usually without a reason to justify it. With increased tension between the two Koreas it makes sense to ask ourselves about the consequences for the world economy and in particular for automotive manufacturers if they go into war.

To start, South Korea is home for some of the world's largest companies, such as Samsung, LG, Posco, and in particular related to the automobile world we have Daewoo, Kia, Hyundai and Ssangyong. If both Koreas go to war we can expect a massive destruction of manufacturing plants, particularly those which are in South Korea and produce many of the products we use every day. South Korean supplies the world with many of the electronic components we use in cars and in other appliances.

Not to mention the expected increase in fuel prices, people would feel less confident about buying many of those products and in particular motor vehicles, creating a situation in which other manufacturers from around the world would be forced to reduce production and in turn to lay off more workers, exacerbating an economic crisis in itself quite delicate.

One solution would be to find new suppliers or move production to other countries, but this would have very high costs, and would take a long time.

Imagine the following. After the earthquake in Japan in 2011 there was a lot of auto part suppliers in Japan that saw their production forcefully halted, causing disruptions in the North American auto industry. Now imagine what would happen if the entire Asian region was devastated by a war. This would have a negative impact not only on car manufacturers, but also in companies that produce trucks, buses, boats, ships, planes and pretty much everything else.

And I'm not even talking about a nuclear war. If that were to happen it would be even more catastrophic with almost total shutdown of automobile production. I hope that everyone involved has good sense and nothing serious happens.

Pictured above you have the Pokpung-ho also known as "Storm Tiger", North Korea's main battle tank and the Ssangyong LIV-1 SUV Concept.