How Many Troops If North Collapses? 300K+ (The Wall Street Journal)

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[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1615”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“alt”:“Wall Street Journal”}}]]Government Assistant Professor Jennifer Lind told a South Korean think tank Wednesday that at least 300,000 troops would be needed in North Korea if its regime collapsed.

Lind calculated the figure with Bruce Bennett of Rand Corp. after considering the five critical tasks soldiers would need to tackle: confiscating weapons of mass destruction, controlling the border, disarming the military and police, combating insurgencies, and maintaining general order.

“This is a huge number,” Lind said in her presentation to the Asan Institute in Seoul. “This is a huge diplomatic minefield that would require time to figure out.”

Read the full story, published by The Wall Street Journal on 11/30/11.

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