Looking Longterm

By Andrew Burt / November 23, 2010 at 9:19 PM

While the eyes of the world have been riveted on the Korean  Peninsula following North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island, U.S. Pacific Fleet is thinking of the long-term prospects for the region.

On Nov. 16, Pacific Fleet headquarters issued a request for a contractor to:

study the diplomatic, political, economic, security, and strategic implications of a regime collapse in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and provide political-military policy recommendations to mitigate the disruptions and security threats inevitably attendant to such an event. This study and analysis should be holistic in nature and include participants from key regional countries, for the purpose of collaboratively exploring issues of vital national security interest to the United States and other countries in Northeast Asia.

And seeing as Pacific Fleet consists of approximately 180 ships, nearly 2,000 aircraft and 125,000 Sailors, Marines and Civilians, according to Navy figures, one might think that the Navy wouldn't have to contract out studies on the implications of regime collapse in (by some accounts ) the world's most notorious rogue state. InsideDefense.com sought more details on the contract announcement from Pacific Fleet, but Navy spokesmen have yet to respond.

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