Joint Exercises Start Today... Can Operational Control Verification Be Conducted?

It has been reported that South Korea and the United States will begin joint military exercises starting on the 5th. The photo shows a US 2nd Infantry Division M1A2 SEP tank crossing a pontoon bridge during the South Korea-US joint river crossing operation training held in December 2015 at the Hantan River in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the first theater-level ROK-US combined exercise of the year will be conducted from the 18th, but a 'half-hearted' exercise is inevitable as night training has been omitted.

According to military authorities on the day, the ROK-US forces began the second half combined command post training (CCPT) from 7 a.m. that day. The training is divided into Part 1 Defense (18th?22nd) and Part 2 Counterattack (24th?28th). Originally scheduled to start on the 16th, the start date was postponed by two days to the 18th after a COVID-19 case was confirmed among participants just before the exercise, following urgent consultations between the ROK and US.

The combined command post training is an annual defensive exercise that assumes provocations by North Korea and practices ROK-US response procedures. As in previous years, it is conducted via computer simulation, but due to COVID-19, personnel numbers have been reduced and night training omitted, resulting in a significant reduction in scale and content.

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) also raised the health protection measures at US military bases in Korea by one level, making the second half battalion-level exercises uncertain. On the 17th, USFK explained via its Facebook account, "Considering the recent surge of COVID-19 in Korea, as a preventive measure, the public health protection condition (HPCON) level for all areas in Korea has been raised from 'Bravo' to 'Charlie.'"

A military official said, "Originally, the ROK-US combined exercises would begin with the declaration of emergency mobilization, integrated defense status, and martial law, but this year all these processes have been omitted, so it cannot be regarded as a normal exercise."

Meanwhile, the government plans to continue discussions between the ROK and US for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. On the 18th, Minister of Unification Lee In-young will meet Harry Harris, the US Ambassador to Korea, for the first time since his inauguration to explain plans for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.

On the afternoon of the same day, Minister Lee is expected to meet Ambassador Harris in his office at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu to explain the government's policy plans for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation and emphasize the need for ROK-US coordination during policy implementation. Since his inauguration, he has expressed a plan to open the door for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation through 'small trade' in the form of barter that can avoid violating international sanctions against North Korea. Attention is also focused on whether there will be an exchange of opinions on the inter-Korean 'Life and Safety Community' initiative proposed by President Moon Jae-in in his Liberation Day speech on the 15th and on the operation of the ROK-US working group.

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