Dealing with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea: A Snapshot of the Korean Peninsula in the 21st Century, (Paperback)

The purpose of this research is to examine the possible scenarios of the demise of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). How will it most likely come about, its consequences to the region and its impact to U.S. military involvement in another Korean peninsula conflict. I will focus on Korean history, current geopolitical situation with the DPRK and its neighbors, and three potential socioeconomic outcomes from worst case/best hope/probable outcome of the collapse of the Kim Jong Il regime. This research is important to future planners of the 21st century U.S. military as it fights the global war on terror because it provides forewarning of potentially overextending U.S. forces in too many areas to effectively deal with a potential massive conventional war. Exploring these possible outcomes provides a valuable planning tool to prepare for the worst-case scenario. I anticipate this research will contribute to a greater understanding of the costs involved to fight a protracted conventional war, possibly to include the use of WMD where victory will more than likely come at a higher price than that of Iraq.