By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter

Pyongyang says Seoul and Washington have declared war against the reclusive regime by completing Operation Plan (OPLAN) 5029, a blueprint for dealing with ``sudden change'' in North Korea.

Under the title, ``Extremely Reckless Preemptive Action,'' Unification News, a weekly North Korea journal, on Saturday noted that the joint contingency plan was an unforgivable provocation that violates the dignity and sovereignty of its regime.

The announcement was made in response to South Korean media reports on Nov. 1 that Seoul and Washington appeared to have completed OPLAN 5029 in preparation for a regime collapse or other internal emergency situations in the communist North.

The weekly magazine strongly denied the possibility of internal conflict, saying, ``Contingency is something unimaginable in our republic, which is firmly united with high moral standing and ideological conviction.''

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have crossed the border seeking a better life. Some 15,000 have successfully defected to the South, while an estimated 100,000 to half a million are in China seeking asylum.

As for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the magazine said all of the communist regime's weapons have been used for self-defense purposes only, and will never be used to threaten countries or sold.

The proliferation of its nuclear weapons is increasingly becoming a concern in the international community. On Nov. 3, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced that Pyongyang successfully completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods in August this year as part of its efforts to restore its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.

In January 2003, the North withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), an international accord prohibiting the acquisition and proliferation of nuclear weapons. The North conducted underground nuclear tests in October 2006 and May 2009.

OPLAN 5029 dictates joint military responses of the South and the U.S. to several types of emergency situations in the communist North ― a civil war, an outflow of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the a abduction of citizens, a mass influx of refugees or a natural disaster.

The South's military is reportedly set to play a leading role in enforcing OPLAN 5029, with the exception of the elimination of nuclear weapons and related facilities that will be handled by the U.S.

The two allies have expressed concern that the outbreak of an internal emergency in the North could lead to the transfer of its WMDs and relevant technologies to terrorist groups or other countries.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr