Abrams: "UN Command Has No Plans to Revert to Combat Command"

Robert Abrams, Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, is attending the 'ROK-US Combined Forces Command Deputy Commander Change of Command Ceremony' held at the ROK-US Combined Forces Command in Yongsan, Seoul on the 23rd, delivering a welcome and farewell address. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist]Robert Abrams, Commander of the United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command (CFC), stated on the 20th, "The United Nations Command is not a 'combat command,' and there are no plans to revert to that." This is interpreted as a repeated rebuttal to some views that the U.S. is pushing for the 'reactivation' of the UN Command to lead the international order in the Northeast Asia region.

Commander Abrams introduced that he has recently received many related questions during the opening remarks of the 'CFC Webinar' hosted by the Korean War Veterans Association of the United States, saying, "I want to make this clear," and emphasized this point.

The UN Command transferred operational and combat mission responsibilities to the Combined Forces Command upon its establishment in 1978. Since then, the role of the UN Command has been reduced to maintaining and implementing the armistice agreement. However, there have been recent speculations that the U.S. intends to readjust the role of the UN Command in preparation for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), the dissolution of the CFC, and the establishment of a future Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command. Recently, claims have even been made that the UN Command is considering a role as an 'independent combat command' capable of conducting separate operations.

Regarding this, Commander Abrams publicly stated in October last year, "There is no secret plan to transform the UN Command into any kind of operational command," and called such claims "fake news."

Emphasizing the CFC as the "heart of the Korea-U.S. alliance," Commander Abrams said on this day, "The purpose of the CFC is to exert deterrence against North Korea's provocative actions," and stressed, "We must conduct exercises (training) to maintain readiness in preparation for contingencies."

Meanwhile, Vincent Brooks, former CFC Commander and a discussant in the webinar, agreed with the opinion that even if the OPCON transfer takes place, the number of U.S. troops stationed in Korea will not decrease, citing as the basis, "North Korea's threat continues to grow, and there are even discussions about increasing the number [of troops]."

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