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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has thrown his weight behind renewed calls from the U.S. to turn a conceptual scheme to deal with sudden contingencies in North Korea into a concrete action plan. Conplan 5029, long on the shelves because the previous South Korean government felt it interfered with sovereignty issues, is once again on the cusp of being turned into an operational plan.
A government source on Tuesday said Gates’ call came at the 40th bilateral Security Consultative Meeting in Washington on Oct. 17 to Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee.
Conplan 5029, formulated in 1999, is a contingency plan for five kinds of scenarios, including anarchy or a civil war in North Korea in the wake of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death or a coup.
Given recent rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s ill health, there have been calls to turn it urgently into an operational plan.
Gates reportedly said that the U.S. is ready to supply fighting power necessary for South Korea to implement such an operational plan.
It was the first time since the Lee Myung-bak administration took office that the top U.S. military leader has stressed the need to make the plan practicable and pledged support.
Seoul apparently agrees but feels it should tread carefully for fear of upsetting North Korean and some parts of South Korean society.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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