US, S.Korea plan for North crisis
- Source: Global Times
- [03:31 November 02 2009]
- Comments
By Zhan Debin in Seoul and Zhang Wen in Beijing
The US and South Korea have drawn up a joint action plan to respond to potential emergencies in North Korea, the Yonhap News Agency reported Monday, citing a South Korean government source.
The so-called Operational Plan (OPLAN) 5029, completed after years of bilateral consultation, the agency said, dictates respective military responses by Seoul and Washington to possible emergencies in North Korea, including civil war, an outflow of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the kidnapping of South Korean citizens, a mass influx of refugees and a natural disaster.
The Kukmin Ilbo newspaper in Seoul cited an unnamed military officer as saying that South Korea's military would play a leading role in enforcing the plan.
"If South Korean-US combined forces intervene in North Korea's internal instabilities, the South Korean military will mostly assume the leading role in consideration of neighboring countries," the source said. "But the US military will be responsible for the removal of the North's nuclear facilities and weapons."
Both sides are concerned about a possible transfer of the North's WMDs and relevant technology to terrorist groups or other countries, it added.
"The plan aims especially at the alleged development of nuclear weapons in the North. Not only are South Korea and the US discussing possible solutions to the nuclear issue, China, the UN and other parties have also gotten involved," Choi Choon-heum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told the Global Times.
"Although OPLAN 5029 may affect ties between the two Koreas, considering it is just a plan, a war is not guaranteed," Choi added.
Some South Korean analysts have said that China could help carry out such a plan, and South Korea and the US should try to convince China that even if the US gets involved, no threat will be posed to China.
"The US and South Korea should further improve the plan, and maybe consider starting talks with both China and Japan," said Hong Gyu-tok from Sookmyung Women's University.
In late October 2008, the US proposed developing a detailed OPLAN in case the North Korean regime collapsed.
North Korea has strongly protested US-South Korean discussions of contingency plans, which the North views as preparations to invade the country.
Such discussions had been suspended under the previous liberal Seoul government that feared such a plan could infringe on its own sovereignty.
Agencies contributed to this story
