ROK-U.S. News

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States wrapped up a major combined military exercise Thursday, Seoul officials said, in a conclusion highlighting their pursuit of stronger deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The allies completed the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, which kicked off Aug. 22, despite North Korean state media slamming the annual drills as a rehearsal for war against the reclusive regime.

The exercise involved more than a dozen field training events in line with the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s commitment to “normalizing” drills scaled back or suspended under the former liberal Moon Jae-in administration’s drive for peace.

Based on an all-out war concept, the exercise entailed three key elements — the computer-simulation command post exercise, field training and the South Korean government’s Ulchi civil defense drills

It proceeded in two major parts — the first segment involving drills on repelling North Korean attacks and defending the greater Seoul area, with the second part focusing on counterattack operations.

Gen. Ahn Byung-Seok, the deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, led the entire exercise to conduct a key capability assessment required for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul from Washington.

The full operational capability assessment is the second part of the three-stage program to vet the South’s capabilities to lead combined forces. The program is part of numerous conditions required for the OPCON handover.

Throughout the exercise, the allies maintained tight vigilance amid concerns that the North could engage in provocative acts, like a nuclear test or missile launch, on the pretext of responding to the drills.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) — South Korea is leading the entirety of a major combined military exercise with the United States for the first time, Seoul officials said Wednesday, in a sign of progress in the allies’ plan for the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON).

Gen. Ahn Byung-Seok, the deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), is leading the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise — a venue for a key test of Seoul’s capabilities to retake the OPCON from Washington.

In 2019, the South partially led an exercise with the U.S. But this year, it is to command combined forces during the whole duration of the ongoing exercise, according to the officials.

Ahn has taken the commanding role, albeit in an exercise, as the two countries are conducting the full operational capability (FOC) assessment, the second part of the three-stage program to vet the South’s capabilities to lead combined forces.

The program is one of numerous steps that the allies are required to take to achieve the “conditions-based” OPCON transition. Other conditions include the South’s strike and air defense capabilities and the regional security environment conducive to the handover.

CFC Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera stressed the importance of the ongoing exercise in light of the allies’ efforts toward the OPCON transfer.

“This is significant because for the first time ever, the CFC deputy commander will take the lead as the future CFC commander,” LaCamera was quoted by his office as saying.

The South 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.

Seoul retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but Washington keeps 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 amid North Korea’s rising nuclear and missile threats.

The UFS that kicked off on Monday is set to run through Sept. 1.

Meanwhile, Seoul’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup led a tabletop exercise aimed at deterring and countering threats from North Korea’s nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). It involved officials from the foreign and interior ministries, and other related agencies.

Lee stressed the need for cooperation with the U.S. in ensuring the credibility of America’s extended deterrence — its stated commitment to using a whole range of its military assets, including nuclear arms, to defend its ally, his office said.

He also highlighted his priority on deterring the North’s possible use of WMDs while discussing various steps to take in case threats of the North’s potential nuclear use emerge.

As part of the UFS, the South and the U.S. are also conducting the three-day Buddy Wing air exercise set to run through Thursday.

Some 10 warplanes, including the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 jets and the South’s KF-16s, have been mobilized for the exercise aimed at enhancing combined air operational capabilities, Seoul officials said.

By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, June 23 (Yonhap) — Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup on Thursday reaffirmed South Korea’s commitment to further strengthening its alliance with the United States, pointing to the “very grave” security threats from North Korea.

He was speaking at a breakfast meeting with former and current South Korean and U.S. officials, as concerns have grown about the possibility of the North carrying out its seventh nuclear experiment at the Punggye-ri testing site.

“Due to the advances in North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities, and its preparations for a seventh nuclear test, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula is very grave,” Lee said. “Our military will always strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance further and firmly defend South Korea.”

At the meeting, Foreign Minister Park Jin also delivered a speech highlighting Seoul’s concerns over Pyongyang’s evolving military threats.

Park pointed out that the North’s military capabilities are threatening peace not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the world, and that the allies are working together toward the shared goal of the North’s complete denuclearization ultimately for the sake of “sustainable peace.”

Attendees at the meeting included Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, the main opposition Democratic Party’s candidate for National Assembly speaker, and Christopher Del Corso, the charge d’affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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