US war plan to topple Kim Jong-il

[Magda Hassan]

Just in case any one think North Korea is some sort of paranoid rogue state - something from the memory hole. Much of this has been happening. The South Korean government have been asked by the US military to demolish a 400 year old village, and endangered white crane nesting ground, Mugeon-ri, to increase the 'joint' military training area by an additional 30 square kilometers. This is close to the border. There are many provocative acts by the US against North Korea.





US war plan to topple Kim Jong-il

July 15 2003
By Shane Green
Tokyo


The United States has begun drawing up a military plan designed to topple the North Korean Government that could provoke war with the communist state, according to new reports.
The plan, known as Operations Plan 5030, would reportedly allow provocative actions by US forces before a war started, with the apparent aim of destabilising and topp-ling the regime of Kim Jong-il.
The plan, reported by the weekly magazine, US News and World Report, would give US commanders the power to take specific actions in a pre-war phase.
These include sending RC-135 spy flights closer to North Korean airspace, forcing Pyongyang to scramble its jets and use up valuable fuel.
Another scenario outlined by the magazine was the launching of surprise military exercises designed to force North Koreans to head into bunkers and use up food, water and other resources.
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The magazine quotes Administration insiders who are critical of the plan, which they say is being pushed by hardliners.
The concern is that the acts of provocation could provoke a sharp response from North Korea, such as shooting down a spy plane or launching an artillery attack on South Korea.
Earlier this year, the potential for conflict was reinforced when North Korean fighters tried to force down a US spy plane.
The war plan, according to the magazine, has been ordered by US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld.
The report comes as the international community attempts to establish how far North Korea has progressed in its development of nuclear weapons.
The US, South Korea and Japan all cast doubt on a claim by the North that it had reprocessed all 8000 spent fuel rods at its nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
The rods would make enough plutonium to produce between six and 12 nuclear bombs - in addition to the one or two crude nuclear bombs the US believes North Korea already has.
At a meeting of US officials in New York last week, North Korean envoys to the United Nations claimed reprocessing was completed on June 30. South Korea's intelligence agency last week reported that reprocessing had begun - matched by a similar report from US intelligence.
Responding to the report that North Korea had completed the reprocessing, Mr Rumsfeld said the situation was unclear.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan said there was no clear scientific evidence to confirm North Korea's claims.
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said there had been "various information" about the reprocessing, "but we are not in a position of saying anything in detail".