The Core of This Month's Joint Exercises is 'Rapid Transition to Wartime System'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The South Korean and U.S. military authorities plan to practice the rapid transition to wartime posture, as well as the process of repelling and counterattacking North Korean attacks, during the joint exercises scheduled for late this month.

According to the 'Defense Issues Report' submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the National Assembly's National Defense Committee on the 1st, the military will conduct the 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS) in three stages: crisis management exercise, Phase 1 exercise, and Phase 2 exercise. The crisis management exercise will focus on initial response to North Korean provocations and joint ROK-U.S. crisis management.

In the subsequent Phase 1 exercise, the transition to wartime posture, repelling North Korean attacks, and defense of the Seoul metropolitan area will be practiced. During this process, exercises on the procedures for conducting a nationwide all-out war at the government-wide level will also be conducted concurrently. Phase 2 exercise will involve counterattacks and counteroffensive operations to secure the safety of the Seoul metropolitan area.

The Ministry of National Defense plans to focus on operating war deterrence means that integrate the ROK-U.S. diplomacy, information, military, and economy (DIME) elements and mastering the ROK-U.S. joint crisis management procedures through these exercises.

In particular, to cultivate the capability to conduct a nationwide all-out war, realistic scenarios considering the nature of international conflicts and infrastructure development will be applied. These scenarios include the discovery of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at nuclear power plants, fires at semiconductor factories, and paralysis of bank computer networks. Actual training exercises (FTX) will also be conducted to prepare for airport terrorism, drone attacks on civilian and military facilities, and recovery of damage to multi-use facilities.

The military will also intensively conduct unit- and function-specific joint field maneuver exercises during UFS, carrying out 11 exercises such as joint science-based combat training, joint attack helicopter firing training, and joint maritime patrol operations training. Additionally, under the command of a four-star general of the Republic of Korea Army, an evaluation of the Full Operational Capability (FOC) of the Future Combined Command will be conducted concurrently. The FOC evaluation will assess 49 out of 73 Combined Mission Essential Task Lists (CMETL) of the Future Combined Command, with a joint ROK-U.S. evaluation team of about 60 members jointly deriving the evaluation results. Through this, the military plans to comprehensively review the capabilities and system acquisition status of the ROK forces and determine whether to verify the FOC. To strengthen the joint missile response posture, plans include establishing a Missile Policy Working Group (CMWG) and conducting joint missile defense research.

Regarding North Korean developments, the Ministry of National Defense reported that "the third tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site has been fully restored, and it is assessed that North Korea can conduct a nuclear test at any time upon Kim Jong-un’s decision."

The Ministry explained that North Korea is "preparing to re-launch the new liquid-fueled ICBM (Hwasong-17) while simultaneously upgrading the performance of solid-fueled missiles." It added, "Kim Jong-un presided over the expanded meeting of the Party Central Military Commission (June 21?23), where he is assessed to have discussed and approved revisions to frontline unit operational plans and military organization restructuring."

Regarding China’s developments, the Ministry evaluated that "China is pressuring our government to maintain the 'Three No’s' policy on THAAD under the declaration of non-compromise on core interests," while accelerating maritime power enhancement with the commissioning of its third aircraft carrier (June 17) and a large patrol ship (July 11). The Ministry analyzed that China is increasing military activities targeting the U.S. and Taiwan, including aircraft carrier group exercises in the South China Sea and Western Pacific, and frequent entries into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for show-of-force air and naval operations.

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