29 May, 2009

North Korea and Plan 5027

Plan 5027 is reported to be the primary contingency plan for American military operations in a war with North Korea.  Frankly, it doesn't mean much: the US isn't expecting to fight that kind of war.  It isn't expecting to fight any kind of war.  Reports that the US and South Korea have raised their threat levels generally miss the fact that only the WATCH condition has been raised (more observation), not the DEFCON (still at peacetime status).  Given all the testing going on right now, it would be amazingly stupid not to increase the WATCHCON.

Nightwatch (as supplied to AFCEA by John Mccreary) remains the best source I can find to keep up on North Korea.  Recently, it draws some interesting connections between recent reports of Kim Jong-Ils illness, the need for a father to surpass (or at least match) the achievements of the father, and the problem of succession.  There's much there to think about.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Andrei Lankov is always one to read about the NoKo's.

Daniel McIntosh said...

Thanks for the tip; I'll look for him.

Daniel McIntosh said...

You are absolutely right about Lankov--an excellent source for the history and context of events in North Korea. Another name to add to my read list.