Free Republic

U.S. military planners have discovered that China's current arsenal of non-nuclear ballistic and cruise missiles could probably knock out five of six major American air bases in Japanese and South Korea. Oops. To make matters worse, this has become an issue as North Korea stumbles towards political collapse, and China indicates that it will assume control in the north if that happens. South Korea believes it should move north to deal with a collapse, and this plan is becoming a contentious issue with China. It's long been obvious that China planned a similar tactic against Taiwan. Wargames and detailed analysis...

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...

China, as a "traditional friend" to North Korea, is loathe to discuss contingency plans to prepare for possible political unrest in the reclusive regime, a Chinese scholar said yesterday. The reason is partially because the Chinese do not believe the internal political system in the North is subject to imminent collapse, and also because North Korea has its rights as a United Nations member and sovereign country. "Beijing would look at a possible political implosion in North Korea in the most negative terms and would never try to destabilize that country or join others to do so," said Wang Ji-si,...

South Korea is considering holding a joint military exercise with the United States to mimic coping with all possible contingencies that could occur in North Korea, a report said Friday. The U.S. government recently proposed the idea to South Korea as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is reportedly suffering from illnesses and the economic situation in the communist state is worsening, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. But the Ministry of National Defense denied the report. ``The U.S. hasn't made any such proposal. Neither have we considered such a military drill,'' a ministry spokesman said, asking not to be named....

The United States and its ally South Korea have drawn up a contingency plan to cope with emergencies in North Korea, including a possible regime change there, a report said Sunday. "Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029" was completed by Seoul and Washington recently, Yonhap news agency said, quoting an unnamed Seoul source. It dictates how to respond case-by-case to such emergencies in North Korea as a civil war, an outflow of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), a mass influx of refugees or a natural disaster, Yonhap said. Under the plan, the United States assumes the role of eliminating North Korea's WMDs,...