The ROK-US Joint Military Exercises Losing Both Justification and Practical Benefits

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] On the 10th, when the ROK-US joint military exercises began, North Korea strongly criticized both South Korea and the United States. The government significantly reduced the scale of the exercises in consideration of North Korea's backlash, but ultimately it did not ease tensions between the two Koreas. On the other hand, although the exercises were carried out to facilitate the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), this too was hindered by the scale reduction. It is a situation where both justification and practical benefits have been lost.

Kim Yo-jong, Vice Director of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated through the Korean Central News Agency on the same day, "The US and South Korean military have ultimately commenced joint military exercises that further promote instability in the situation," and expressed "strong regret over the treacherous actions of the South Korean authorities." She also said, "I am issuing this statement under authorization," indicating that the content of the statement reflects the will of Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party.

Regarding the reduction in the scale of the exercises by the ROK-US, she said, "Regardless of the scale or the form of the exercises, the joint military exercises have an aggressive nature as a war rehearsal centered on a preemptive strike against us and a preliminary nuclear war drill," and called it "a self-destructive act that will surely pay a price." Kim Yo-jong also warned, "The dangerous war exercises carried out by the US and South Korea, ignoring our repeated warnings, will inevitably expose themselves to even more severe security threats."

From the 10th to the 13th, the ROK-US will conduct a Crisis Management Staff Training (CMST) simulating various local provocations and terrorist situations. The main exercise, the second half Combined Command Post Training (21-2 CCPT), scheduled from the 16th to the 26th, will be conducted as a computer simulation-based command post exercise (CPX) consisting of defense (Part 1) and counterattack (Part 2). Since the main exercise assumes a wartime outbreak scenario, it will be overseen by General Paul LaCamera, Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, who holds wartime operational control. General Kim Seung-gyeom, Deputy Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, will serve as commander for one day each during Parts 1 and 2, leading the combined forces, and it is known that a rehearsal for the Full Operational Capability (FOC) of the future Combined Forces Command will be conducted.

However, considering the spread of COVID-19 and other factors, the personnel scale is expected to be minimized, so it seems unlikely that the FOC verification of the future Combined Forces Command exercising OPCON will be conducted. A military official said, "Under close cooperation between ROK-US intelligence authorities, we are closely monitoring related developments," and added, "There are no additional activities to explain at this time."

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