US-ROK Differences on Joint Exercises... Will a Decision Come After Vice Minister Byung?

Steve Biegun, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy at the Department of State, is waiting for Lee Do-hoon, Director-General for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] As the South Korean and U.S. military authorities show differences over the method of the combined South Korea-U.S. military exercises in the second half of the year, there is a forecast that a direction will be set after the visit of Steven Biegun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea. It is said that whether to strengthen the combined exercises or focus on verifying the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) will be decided depending on whether North Korea and the U.S. resume dialogue.

General Robert Abrams, Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, emphasized the necessity of large-scale combined exercises at the 6th Korea-U.S. Alliance Forum invited lecture on the 1st, stating, "The theater-level (including the entire Korean Peninsula) combined South Korea-U.S. exercises are essential to maintaining the combined defense posture." This is interpreted as his intention to expand the currently separately conducted brigade-level or higher exercises by South Korea and the U.S. into combined exercises.

Regarding the implementation of the combined exercises, he said, "Due to COVID-19, we had no choice but to postpone the combined command post exercises in the first half of the year, and we could not catch up with the effect of twice-yearly theater-level exercises."

General Abrams also mentioned the defeat of the Smith unit during the Korean War and said, "We must maintain a 'Fight Tonight' posture," reiterating the need to strengthen the combined command post exercises in the second half of the year. This stance differs from that of the South Korean military, which insists that the combined exercises should focus on verifying the Full Operational Capability (FOC) of the future combined forces command in preparation for the OPCON transfer.

General Abrams also expressed dissatisfaction with the reduction of training grounds due to the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement. He stated, "We need to conduct live-fire exercises realistically, including helicopter and close air support forces, and air power should continuously be able to use the training grounds," adding, "When the use of training grounds is restricted, we send our forces to train outside the Korean Peninsula. This reduces the forces available to respond in emergencies."

Inside and outside the military, it is expected that if Deputy Secretary Biegun, who is likely to visit Korea as early as next week, brings a message from U.S. President Donald Trump, a direction regarding the scale of the combined exercises will be established. If it is judged that the U.S. will continue efforts to resume negotiations with North Korea, the combined exercises scheduled for August are likely to be scaled down citing the impact of COVID-19. However, if there are changes in the situation or unexpected incidents in the meantime, the possibility of strengthening the combined exercises cannot be ruled out. In fact, Deputy Secretary Biegun visited Korea last December and proposed a meeting to the North, but the meeting was canceled due to no response from the North.

In particular, North Korea maintains the position that it can only resume negotiations if the U.S. abandons its hostile policy toward North Korea, making it unclear whether the situation will change immediately. Deputy Secretary Biegun's remark that "complete deterrence against North Korea must be maintained" seems to leave room for focusing on situation management even if negotiations are not resumed.