The operational plan calls for Japanese forces to support U.S. troops engaged in combat on the Korean Peninsula and to independently respond to infiltration attempts by large numbers - defined in the text as "hundreds" - of North Korean operatives into Japan.

The new National Defense Program Outline adopted by the Japanese cabinet Friday was also predicated on this operational plan. The Asahi said, however, that because the plan was rushed, there was insufficient coordination with the police and other bodies in preparation for a sudden change in the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

According to the Asahi, OPLAN 5055 was written up by the Bilateral Planning Committee (BPC), a group composed under the 1997 U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation Guidelines of officials from the SDF's Joint Staff Council (similar to Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff) and U.S. Forces Japan command.

The plan, the first one to be signed between the U.S. and Japan since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, calls for direct Japanese assistance in search and rescue operations for U.S. soldiers, and in securing bases and harbors for U.S. sorties or logistics.

Japanese ground forces have been assigned to protect 135 major facilities, such as U.S. bases and nuclear power stations that lie on the coastline of the East Sea (Sea of Japan). Japanese naval forces are to patrol the waters near nuclear power stations with escort ships and patrol planes and prepare against infiltration attempts by North Korean boats.

Japanese warships are also to secure the maritime transportation lanes connecting northern Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula, conducting operations such as minesweeping. Japanese air forces would collect intelligence with early warning aircraft and use C-130 transports to support the evacuation of refugees from the Korean Peninsula.

In the course of writing up OPLAN 5055, the SDF assumed "thousands" of armed North Korean agents would attempt to land in Japan. The U.S. military, on the other hand, claimed that according to its analysis, at most, "hundreds" would attempt any planned infiltration. The plan reflected the U.S. military position, and calls for the SDF to handle invasions independently.

While writing up Japan's latest National Defense Program Outline, the Ministry of Finance called for ground forces to be cut by 40,000 men, but the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), pointing to OPLAN 5055, strongly resisted, claiming that troop strength needed to be bolstered in order to deal with North Korean guerrillas and commandos.

In opposing troop reductions, the SDF referred to a case in 1996 when 20 North Korean commandos infiltrated the South, and South Korean forces had to engage in 50 days of mop-up operations even after mobilizing almost 60,000 troops for the job. In the end, Japan decided to cut its troop strength by 5,000 men.

(englishnews@chosun.com )