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To: goldsnow who wrote (23417)	11/25/1998 10:35:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116752

US threat to invade North Korea A deliberately leaked plan to topple the 'Great Leader' may backfire, warns John Gittings in Hong Kong Thursday November 26, 1998 The United States has sent a sharp signal to Pyongyang that if its troops attack South Korea, American forces will invade the North and topple the "Great Leader" Kim Jong-il. This new aggressive strategy, disclosed today in Hong Kong, evokes grim memories of the 1950-53 Korean war in which millions died. It comes only three days after President Clinton visited Seoul and warned North Korea to halt alleged nuclear and ballistic weapons schemes. Under the new invasion plan, US and South Korean troops would not simply defend the 38th parallel which divides the country, but seek to drive the Northern forces back, capture Pyongyang and set up a new regime. The US plan has been revealed in the current issue of Far Eastern Economic Review in what is clearly a deliberate leak to put pressure on the North. The publication says the strategy still has to be ratified by the US and South Korean joint chiefs of staff, but has been carefully drafted over several months. Its tough posture is in striking contrast to the cautious policy outlined only two days ago in the US department of defence's latest report on East Asia strategy. There have been signs of sharp divisions in Washington on how to deal with North Korea. South Korean forces, according to the plan, would bear the brunt of the ground assault on the North, while the US provided air and naval power. But one scenario envisages a huge amphibious assault by US marines, who would land on opposite sides of North Korea with the aim of cutting the country in two. Details of the plan were provided by US officials in Seoul, Washington and Hawaii - headquarters of the US Pacific command - to Richard Halloran, a former New York Times correspondent whose experience of Korea goes back to the 1950s. The intention behind the leak is presumably to warn off North Korea from any adventure it might launch in its present desperate state of a collapsing economy and starving population. But publication of the plan, even if the Pentagon distances itself from it, could have the opposite effect, strengthening the position of North Korean military leaders who argue that the US is plotting their downfall. "It will be welcomed by hardliners both in Pyongyang and Washington," one knowledgeable North Korea watcher commented yesterday. Recent joint US-South Korean military exercises have been denounced by the North as a "prelude to war". North Korea denied yesterday that it was building an underground nuclear facility in violation of the 1994 agreement requiring it to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons programme. Mr Clinton warned the North on Saturday to "comply with its obligations", suggesting that the military danger on the Korean peninsula is almost of the same level as in Iraq. If the new strategy is confirmed, the US would appear to be showing more willingness to intervene against the North Korean dictator than it has so far shown in dealing with Saddam Hussein. The strategy is said to reflect the belief of military planners that the North Korean army is weaker today and could more easily be defeated. But its publication runs counter to the efforts of South Korea's president, Kim Dae-jung, to defuse tension in North-South relations by pursuing a "sunshine policy" towards Pyongyang. It also contradicts the measured view of the US defence department in its East Asian Strategy Report, released on Tuesday. Although it said that Pyongyang was still capable of "inflicting terrible destruction on South Korea", it did not threaten massive retaliation. Instead, the report said: "The US and South Korea will work together to resolve such situations at the lowest level of tension possible, and in a way that is least disruptive to regional security." The former US defence secretary, William Perry, has been appointed as co-ordinator of US policy towards North Korea, and is expected to travel to the region soon. reports.guardian.co.uk