[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]The Ministry of National Defense stated on the 9th that the ROK-US combined field training exercises are, in principle, conducted dispersed throughout the year.
At the regular briefing that day, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Bu Seung-chan said, "Since the Singapore North Korea-US summit in June 2018, the scale of ROK-US combined exercises has been adjusted and implemented," adding, "Field training exercises are also conducted in a balanced manner dispersed throughout the year rather than concentrated in a specific period, which is the principle."
The adjustment and implementation of the scale of combined exercises by South Korea and the US is part of measures to support diplomatic efforts aimed at denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing peace following the Singapore North Korea-US summit.
To this end, large-scale exercises at the regiment level or above are conducted independently by South Korea and the US, while battalion-level or smaller exercises are conducted jointly and dispersed throughout the year.
Regarding whether the scale of field training exercises has increased compared to previous years, spokesperson Bu responded, "Since the training scale is divided into large-scale regiment-level and small-scale battalion-level, the increase or decrease cannot be calculated numerically."
According to the 'Defense White Paper 2020' published by the Ministry of National Defense earlier this year, based on domestic exercises last year, the ROK and US conducted combined exercises 29 times with the Army, 70 times with the Navy, 66 times with the Air Force, and 7 times with the Marine Corps.
In the case of the Navy and Air Force, the number of exercises increased by 9 and 49 times respectively compared to the previous year, showing an increase in the number of exercises despite the COVID-19 situation.
On the other hand, exercises involving face-to-face contact with the Army and Marine Corps decreased by 60 and 17 times respectively during the same period.
Meanwhile, regarding the ongoing first half combined command post training (21-1 CCPT) from the 8th to the 18th, where a future combined command led by a Korean general is conducting theater-level operation rehearsals, spokesperson Bu explained, "By doing so, we expect to bring progress that can accelerate the transfer of wartime operational control."
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