South Korea needs to undergo a strategic preparation process to respond properly to a North Korean contingency, so that it can take advantage of the new development to achieve reunification while not letting it adversely impact South Korean security. North Korean contingency will inevitably have direct and indirect impact on the interests of the world's most powerful nations. Hence, South Korea will need to take a creative diplomatic approach to harmonize their conflicting interests and draw out international cooperation to resolve the Korean peninsula issue the way it wants. The foremost priority for South Korea will be to convince neighboring countries that the South Korean-led resolution of the Korean peninsula issue would not in any way run counter to their interests and that it could even help them. Seoul should also launch bilateral and multilateral strategic dialogues with neighboring nations about the future of the Korean peninsula. Through these conduits, South Korea should clearly state its intent.
South Korea must be fully prepared to prevent outside intervention, promote international cooperation to preserve peace, manage WMD, and deal with a flood of refugees in case of a North Korean contingency. Above all, it should formulate an ROK-US crisis management plan to prepare for a North Korean contingency. A lack of such plan would only increase the chances of colliding interests during a North Korean contingency.