US-ROK Joint Exercises Begin on the 18th... Focus on Combined Defense Posture Rather Than OPCON Verification

Resuming ROK-US Exercises After One Year

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the 16th that the ROK-U.S. combined exercise will be conducted from the 18th to the 28th in the form of a combined command post exercise, comprehensively considering various conditions such as the novel coronavirus infection. The photo shows the Ministry of National Defense building.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, scaled down due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), will commence on the 18th. Instead of verification for the wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, this exercise will focus on checking the combined defense posture, raising concerns that the government’s plan to expedite the OPCON transfer may face setbacks.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced in a text message to defense ministry reporters that "the South Korea-U.S. alliance has decided to conduct this Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) from the 18th to the 28th, taking into account the overall circumstances including the COVID-19 situation."

The exercise was originally scheduled to begin on the 16th but was postponed by two days after a COVID-19 case was confirmed among the participants. A 20-something Army officer dispatched to Daejeon’s Jaun Base for the exercise tested positive for COVID-19 the day before, prompting close consultations between the two countries’ military authorities to reach this decision.

The JCS added, "This exercise will focus on maintaining the combined defense posture and will partially conduct rehearsals applying the future Combined Forces Command (CFC) structure after the OPCON transfer."

Earlier, the South Korea-U.S. military authorities conducted a Crisis Management Staff Training (CMST), a preliminary exercise, from the 11th to the 14th. The main exercise, a computer simulation-based combined command post training, is scheduled to proceed as planned, divided into two phases: defense from the 18th to the 22nd and counterattack from the 24th to the 28th.

In this exercise, which assumes scenarios such as localized provocations and counterterrorism responses, only rehearsals will be conducted, meaning that the Full Operational Capability (FOC) verification will effectively not take place. It is expected to be possible only during the joint exercises in the first half of next year. The South Korean military initially planned to complete the FOC verification during this joint exercise, but the U.S. military reportedly expressed reluctance due to personnel operation restrictions and the reduced scale of the exercise caused by COVID-19. The FOC verification of the future Combined Forces Command, where a South Korean general serves as commander and a U.S. general as deputy commander, is an essential procedure for the OPCON transfer.

With the difficulty of completing the FOC verification this year, there are expectations that the OPCON transfer may be delayed beyond the government’s plan. President Moon Jae-in had pledged during his presidential campaign to push for the OPCON transfer by 2022, within his term. This main exercise, including the FOC verification rehearsals, is being held for the first time in a year due to the cancellation of the first half’s exercise amid the COVID-19 impact.

Additionally, the scale of this exercise has been significantly reduced as the number of U.S. troops reinforced from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Guam, and other locations has drastically decreased due to COVID-19. Furthermore, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the exercise will be conducted mainly during the daytime, unlike in the past when night training was also included.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.