COVID-19 Cases in Military Surpass 1,000... Joint Training Faces Another Variable

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The military has decided to conduct the Korea-US Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) next month, but the number of COVID-19 cases within the military is concerning.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 14th, 1,077 new COVID-19 cases were reported that day. The daily number of confirmed cases in the military had been below 1,000 since September 1st, when it was 1,117, but it reached 1,102 the day before yesterday, marking over 1,000 cases for two consecutive days including today after 42 days.

Inside and outside the military, there are concerns that although Korea and the US have agreed to conduct the CCPT from August 22 to September 1, this could become a variable. The large-scale combined exercise, including the actual movement of equipment and troops scheduled for mid-next month, might be scaled down. Especially since significant preparation time is required in advance, there are also criticisms that it is realistically difficult to prepare in a short period.

CCPT is a computer simulation-based exercise, but Korea and the US are reportedly considering including outdoor field exercises as well, in order to check and establish combined readiness against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

CCPT replaced the large-scale combined exercises previously conducted annually before 2018, such as the first half’s Key Resolve (KR) and Foal Eagle (FE), and the second half’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), by integrating them into two sessions held annually in the first and second halves of the year. Korea and the US are also reportedly reviewing changing the name from ‘Command Post Training’ to include words like ‘Alliance’.

During this year’s CCPT period, in accordance with Korea-US agreement, the Future Combined Command’s Full Operational Capability (FOC) evaluation for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) will also be conducted. Previously, at the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) last year, both countries agreed to conduct the FOC evaluation this year.

The FOC evaluation corresponds to the second stage of the three-stage evaluation process to assess the operational capability of the Future Combined Command, commanded by a Korean Army general (four-star), after the OPCON transfer.

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