Plans for war against North Korea

[k hanly <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It sounds very much as if the US wants to withdraw its own troops out of
harms way and leave the South Koreans to suffer from a North Korean attack
while the US attacks from a distance or from the air.

Cheers, Ken Hanly

US makes new plans for war on Pyongyang
By Shane Green, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo
June 4 2003





The United States is said to be developing new plans for a war in North
Korean that would bypass the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas and
target the leadership in Pyongyang.

The plan is based on the success of US-led forces in Iraq in quickly
reaching the capital, Baghdad.

US officials quoted by Reuters said the plan would involve the consolidation
of the US and South Korean forces in two areas away from the demilitarised
zone.

If war broke out, the forces would skirt the demilitarised zone and head for
Pyongyang. "This is Kim Jong-il's worst nightmare," one official said.

It was estimated that the recently announced $US11 billion ($17 billion)
upgrade of the capabilities of US forces in South Korea would give them the
ability to "take down" North Korea's heavy presence on the border within an
hour of war breaking out.


The report coincided with a visit to South Korea and Japan by the US Deputy
Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz.

Mr Wolfowitz, speaking in Tokyo after meeting Japan's Defence Minister,
Shigeru Ishiba, would not be drawn on the reported plans.

"We don't discuss military plans for good operational reasons," he said.

But he said the US wanted to update its "force posture" so it could counter
a North Korean attack "more quickly and more effectively".

In South Korea on Monday Mr Wolfowitz warned of a "devastatingly effective"
response against any North Korean military aggression.

The US has 37,000 troops in South Korea, including 15,000 members of the
Second Infantry Division deployed near the demilitarised zone. But it
appears likely they will be moved as part of a realignment of US forces in
the country.

Mr Wolfowitz said this realignment should not be delayed.

"It is not something that should wait until the nuclear problem is solved,
as though somehow it's going to weaken our posture. To the contrary, it's
part of an effort to strengthen our overall posture on the peninsula,
including . . . a very substantial investment by the United States in some
150 systems that will enhance our ability to provide for early defence
against a North Korean attack."

Mr Wolfowitz acknowledged that North Korea now had "certain advantages over
us which they continue to press". He did not specify what these were, but
North Korea has an estimated 11,000 pieces of artillery aimed at the South
Korean capital, Seoul, only 50 kilometres from the demilitarised zone.

Mr Wolfowitz said the US also had "some considerable advantages", pointing
to the "remarkable military capabilities" demonstrated in Afghanistan and
Iraq.

He said the US believed it was important to "update our force posture from
where it was 10 years ago, to take advantage of those capabilities".