S.Korea, U.S. 'Complete N.Korea Contingency Plan'

The Chosun Ilbo ^ | 3/26/2010 | The Chosun Ilbo

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

South Korea and the U.S. have completed an operational plan that envisages military responses to six types of emergencies in North Korea including regime collapse, a government source said Sunday.

The source said the two sides will continue to complement and develop the plan.

In 1999, during the Kim Dae-jung administration, the South Korean and U.S. militaries gave shape to the contingency plan, but it was then billed as a "concept plan" and envisaged five scenarios -- a civil war caused by a transition of power or a coup after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death; theft and sale abroad of WMD including nuclear, missile and biochemical weapons, by an insurgent army; a mass exodus; massive natural disaster; and the kidnapping of South Korean citizens.

The plan included no details on troop mobilization and deployment. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the two militaries discussed ways to turn it into an "operational plan," but Cheong Wa Dae slammed the brakes on the idea since it feared the plan infringed on South Korea's sovereignty.

But reports that Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in August last year brought fresh impetus to the plan, and "Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029" was completed after about a year of consultations.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday denied the plan has been completed. "Media reports that OPLAN 5029 has been completed are unfounded. We deeply regret that a secret military operations plan has been reported," it said in a statement.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The date of this story. It came out 11/2/2009. I apologize for any inconvience.

[tet68]

“...We deeply regret that a secret military operations plan has been reported,”

Obviously this didn’t come from the New York Times.

[Jet Jaguar]

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