The Plan Post-Kim: No Plan

Some thoughts are even more disturbing than the idea of Kim Jong Il's controlling an arsenal of poison gas, germ-war cultures and nuclear devices. Like what if the North Korean leader suddenly didn't control those weapons of mass destruction?

Despite those fears, Washington and Seoul have no real contingency plans if Pyongyang implodes. "The question has been completely taboo," says Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Kookmin University. "The major players are completely unprepared. The South Koreans don't want to touch it, and the U.S. takes its lead from the South." The closest thing to an emergency protocol was CONPLAN (Concept Plan) 5029, which outlined nonmilitary steps to cope with refugees, WMD risks and other problems if the North fell into chaos. But three years ago the Americans sought to add military measures to the deal, and Seoul said no, citing concerns for national sovereignty.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/158736

Oh, just wonderful.

KnR