ROK-U.S. News

By Song Sang-ho and Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday to update their joint wartime contingency plans to deter North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, the two sides said, in a sign of their stepped-up cooperation to reinforce deterrence against the recalcitrant regime.

Defense Minister Suh Wook and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, approved the “Strategic Planning Guidance (SPG),” a document to set the tone for updated wartime operation plans (OPLANs), during the allies’ annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM).

Calls have persisted for rewriting the decade-old strategic guidance that critics said has become outdated following major advancements in the North’s weapons development programs, including its refined nuclear arms, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and a hypersonic missile.

During a joint press conference with Suh, Austin took a swipe at the North’s “destabilizing” weapons programs.

“We also reaffirmed our shared assessment that the DPRK is continuing to advance its missile and weapons programs, which is increasingly destabilizing for regional security,” Austin said, referring to the North’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

But he highlighted the allies’ commitment to a “diplomatic approach” to the North.

Suh said the new SPG came as the allies shared the need to reflect on their updated war plans, the changes in North Korean threats, South Korea’s defense reform efforts and the overall “shifting strategic environment.”

The strategic guidance is designed to provide the allies’ Military Committee, led by their Joint Chiefs of Staff chairmen, with authorization for a war plan, which is to be written by the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).

The joint SCM communique said that the latest guidance “will guide military OPLANs to more effectively deter — and as necessary respond to — DPRK threats to the U.S.-ROK Alliance.” ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

The new guidance marks a manifestation of the allies’ resolve to harness their combined military capabilities to respond to various wartime scenarios, including the North’s use of both nuclear and conventional strikes, observers said.

The guidance is likely to pave the way for a major change to the current OPLAN 5015 that lays out a series of procedures to handle an all-out war with the North. OPLAN 5015 is known to focus largely on handling conventional attacks — a reason why calls for its replacement or an update have surfaced.

Apparently mindful of security concerns here, Austin reiterated the “firm” U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence to South Korea “utilizing the full range of U.S. defense capabilities, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities,” according to the communique.

Also at the SCM, Suh and Austin pledged to conduct the full operational capability (FOC) assessment for the conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) in the fall of 2022 after a period of pandemic-driven delay.

The FOC assessment is the second part of a three-phase program to verify if South Korea is ready to lead the allies’ combined forces during wartime.

“The minister and I also agreed to conduct an FOC assessment of our future Combined Forces Command during next fall’s combined command post training,” Austin said.

“This represents an important task toward meeting the conditions necessary for OPCON transition,” he added.

Even if the FOC verification is over, the allies face the full mission capability assessment, the third and last part of the verification program, meaning it is virtually impossible for Seoul to retake wartime OPCON before the end of the Moon Jae-in administration in May next year.

South Korea handed over operational control over its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was then transferred to the U.S.-led CFC when the command was launched in 1978.

South Korea retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but the U.S. still possesses wartime OPCON. The wartime OPCON transfer was previously set for 2015 but was postponed, as the allies agreed in 2014 to a conditions-based handover due to Pyongyang’s rising nuclear and missile threats.

In the SCM joint statement, the minister and secretary acknowledged the importance of preserving peace and security in the Taiwan Strait — the first mention of the sensitive issue in the SCM, which analysts said signaled the expanding scope of the bilateral alliance to cover security far beyond the Korean Peninsula.

The Taiwan Strait was also mentioned in the joint statement issued at the close of the summit between Presidents Moon and Joe Biden in May.

“The two leaders reaffirmed the importance of the rules-based international order and adherence to international rules and norms, including those of freedom of navigation and overflight,” the communique reads with no mention of China.

Regarding the mention of the Taiwan issue in the communique, a defense ministry official said later that it is just a repeat of what was written in the joint statement from the White House summit in May. The official asked media not to read too much into the related stipulation in the SCM document.

The SCM statement also emphasized the U.S.’ commitment to maintaining the current level of 28,500 American troops in South Korea. Last year’s version did not mention it amid tensions over the prolonged cost-sharing negotiations for the upkeep of the U.S. Forces Korea.

In the statement, the two defense chiefs also pledged to closely cooperate on the relocation of the allies’ Combined Forces Command headquarters to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, by next year.

They also reaffirmed the plan for the return of parts of the U.S. military’s Yongsan Garrison in the capital by early next year, a move likely to back a mega project to build a national park there.

They agreed to work together to promote closer cooperation in strategically crucial security domains of cyberspace and space.

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By Kang Yoon-seung and Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) — The militaries of South Korea and the United States will discuss the possibility of conducting an assessment required for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) earlier than the current plan of next fall, a Seoul official said Friday.

The official’s remarks came after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly agreed to consider advancing the timing for the full operational capability (FOC) assessment during a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in on Thursday.

Just hours before the meeting, Austin and his South Korean counterpart, Suh Wook, announced their agreement to conduct the assessment in the fall of 2022, in an indication that the assessment would proceed only after the end of the Moon administration’s five-year term in May.

“President Moon and Secretary Austin did discuss the possibility of carrying out the FOC assessment at an earlier date,” the official at the defense ministry told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“Accordingly, the military authorities of the South and the U.S. plan to hold consultations on the matter,” the official said without specifying exactly when the talks will take place.

The FOC assessment is the second part of a three-phase program to verify if South Korea is ready to lead the allies’ combined forces during wartime.

The South and the U.S. conducted the initial operational capability test, the first step of the verification process, in 2019. The process has since slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues.

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SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) — Tours to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom resumed Tuesday after a monthslong hiatus attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

The tour program to the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, which was suspended in July, resumed after South Korea shifted to a “living with COVID-19” scheme earlier in the month.

The tour program will be held once a day at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and capped at 20 people per visit.

Visitors are required to be fully vaccinated or submit negative PCR test results taken within three days before their tour.

The unification ministry earlier said it will consider expanding visits to the truce village if the virus situation improves. But authorities recently decided to halt further easing distancing rules as the country grapples with a rise in new infections amid concerns over the global spread of a new virus variant, omicron.

“For now we will proceed with the tour program as planned and decide whether to impose additional anti-virus measures depending on the following situation,” a ministry official said.

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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20211130006100325?section=national/defense

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SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) — The U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) said Monday Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera has approved the expansion of visitation to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom, some four months after tours to the site were suspended due to COVID-19.

In a Facebook post, the UNC said it will soon finalize coordination with the South Korean government over when to restart the tours to Panmunjom, or the Joint Security Area (JSA), in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

“In conjunction with the ROK ‘Living with COVID-19’ plan, the #UNC Commander has authorized the expansion of visitation to the #JointSecurityArea,” the command said.

“We will soon finalize coordination with our ROK government teammates to announce when public tours will resume. Stay tuned!” it added, referring to South Korea by its official name, Republic of Korea.

Since this month, South Korea has implemented a phased scheme for a gradual return to normal life, which entails eased social-distancing rules.

Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20211115008300325?section=national/defense

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By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) — The South Korean government reacted cautiously to a report of North Korea’s military having staged an “artillery fire competition,” saying it will keep a close watch on related situations.

“Rather than prejudging North Korea’s intentions, the government will closely monitor relevant moves,” the unification ministry’s spokesperson Lee Jong-joo told reporters when asked about the issue.

The previous day, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported the training event had been held with the participation of “artillery sub-units under mechanized troops at all levels” of the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

Top military generals made an on-site inspection of the competition, the KCNA said, but the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, was not mentioned in its report, which suggested Kim was not present.

The ministry official pointed out the North has staged various types of military drills, including such artillery fire contests and special forces’ strike competitions.

The North’s leader had often inspected the trainings in person, but there has been no report by Pyongyang’s state-controlled media this year that he did so, Lee noted.

The South’s defense ministry said, separately, it has no formal statement to issue in connection with the latest report of the North’s military exercise.

The unification ministry, meanwhile, said there is no problem in daily inter-Korean contact through their hotlines

The two Koreas have conducted regular phone conversations everyday at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. since the lines were restored on Oct. 4, according to the spokesperson.

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By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) — Talk of the United States’ possible policy shift to reduce its use of nuclear arms under the Joe Biden administration is raising anew consequential questions over the future of America’s security commitments to South Korea and other allies, analysts said Monday.

With its nuclear posture review under way, the Biden team has reportedly been considering a “no-first-use” declaration, which would rule out the possibility of the U.S. launching a preemptive nuclear strike seen as a formidable deterrent against potential adversaries.

Even if Washington does not go as far as to embrace the no-first-use approach, it could opt for a “sole purpose” policy that would define a strictly limited set of extreme circumstances for the use of nuclear arms, such as retaliation after a nuclear attack, observers said.

U.S. allies have been calling for the strengthening of America’s security assurances — or extended deterrence — in the face of a nuclear-ambitious North Korea, an increasingly assertive China and a resurgent Russia.

Their doubts on America’s security commitments have lingered, as they saw former U.S. President Donald Trump trumpeting his “America first” credo and the Western-backed Afghan government collapsing hopelessly following the U.S. troop withdrawal.

“What’s worrisome for allies is that extended deterrence is a commitment that is not binding, and that there hasn’t been an historical experience of the allies having been protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella,” Park Won-gon, a North Korean studies professor of Ewha Womans University, said.

“Should the U.S. renounce the option of preemptive strike or shift to the sole purpose policy, this would suggest that the level of its security commitments to allies would weaken evidently compared with the existing ones,” he added.

The Biden administration has been conducting the nuclear posture review — a regular process that would set the direction of America’s overall policy on nuclear weapons. An updated Nuclear Policy Review (NPR) document is due out early next year.

The possibility of a U.S. policy shift has unnerved conservatives in South Korea, as North Korea has steadily focused on the development of operational nuclear and missile forces as evidenced by the test-firing last month of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Opponents of the policy change argue that the U.S. should keep its stance of strategic ambiguity over its first-use option to ensure that potential enemies dare not think about initiating a war that would cause unacceptable costs on their part.

Commenting on Washington’s policy review, an official at Seoul’s foreign ministry said Sunday that the U.S.’ commitment to the provision of extended deterrence remains “solid” — remarks apparently aimed at allaying worries about America’s possible policy change.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.’ commitment to mobilizing a full range of its military capabilities, nuclear and conventional, to defend its non-nuclear allies, like South Korea. It includes the so-called nuclear umbrella.

Biden’s interim national security strategic guidance, published in March, already hinted at a future policy shift. According to the document, the U.S. will take steps to “reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy,” though the U.S. would ensure its strategic nuclear deterrent remains “safe, secure and effective.”

Such a stance drew a contrast with the 2018 NPR that signaled a stronger nuclear policy stance with the development of “low-yield” nuclear warheads.

Low-yield nuclear arms will lower the psychological threshold for the use of nuclear arms, as their use will lead to much less damage in a limited battle zone than full-scale nuclear exchanges involving high-yield strategic bombs, experts said.

Some observers said that concerns about a U.S. policy change may be excessive, given that no matter what policy name the Biden government chooses, it would be “declaratory” during his term.

“Whether that is part of the Department of Defense review or not, it is America’s declaratory policy during his stint in the White House,” Patrick M. Cronin, chair for Asia-Pacific Security at the U.S.-based Hudson Institute, said.

“I don’t think that undermines deterrence from aggression, because an adversary who uses any force will have to fear conventional military reprisal,” he added.

Going forward, Washington’s policy review is expected to be a subject of intense consultations with its allies. The Financial Times reported Saturday that U.S. allies, including Britain, France and Japan, have been lobbying Biden not to alter the U.S. nuclear policy.

South Korea is expected to discuss the issue with the U.S. during various two-way high-level talks, including the Security Consultative Meeting, the annual defense ministerial talks slated to take place in Seoul early next month.

“Now at issue is how the U.S. would persuade allies to back its policy,” Kim Tae-hyung, a professor of international politics at Soongsil University, said. “Over the next few months before the NPR comes out, there would be intense debates about the sole purpose, no-first-use or other related issues among the allies as well as among U.S. policymakers.”

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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20211101009100325?section=national/defense

News articles do not necessarily reflect the views of KDVA. Any copyrighted materials depicted on this web site are presented for educational purposes only and no claim of ownership is made by KDVA.