If the U.S. were to go to war with North Korea, it would be a very different conflict than the one against Iraq. The U.S. has "war-gamed" the scenario for years — a blueprint for the defense of South Korea that Pentagon insiders know as "OP-PLAN 50-27." Every year the U.S. and South Korean military rehearse the plan and the result is always the same: The U.S. and its allies prevail, but at a terrible price. For half-a-century, the U.S. has been obligated by treaty to execute that war plan, if the North ever invades the South. U.S. Army Gen. Leon LaPorte's job is to make sure the North loses. He is confidant that if North Korea were ever to attack the South, that attack would be defeated. Nonetheless LaPorte and many of his predecessors say North Korea's military, while obsolete, is nevertheless formidable, with 70 percent of its army massed south of Pyongyang along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Retired General John Tilleli, who commanded U.S. forces stationed in Korea from 1996-1999, says the North is capable of unleashing a huge military arsenal at a moments notice. "They have short range and medium range missiles, present and deployed," he says. "They have weapons of mass destruction," he adds, "and oh, by the way, they have about a million-plus ground forces." The Pentagon says about 800 of the North's missiles can strike any point in South Korea, and even as far as Japan.
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