Despite US Vaccine Supply... President Moon Says "Large-Scale ROK-US Joint Exercises Are Difficult"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] President Moon Jae-in's remark that "large-scale military exercises might be difficult due to COVID-19" has sparked controversy. This stance contrasts with the U.S. side supplying COVID-19 vaccines to 550,000 members of our military for normal training, and the plan to proceed with the second half of the year’s Korea-U.S. Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) scheduled for August.

According to the military on the 27th, the Korea-U.S. Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) is set to take place from August 10 to 27. The military expects no disruption to the joint training schedule if COVID-19 vaccines supplied by the U.S. are administered to 550,000 of our troops starting next week.

However, President Moon Jae-in said the day before regarding the Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, "Wouldn't large-scale military exercises be difficult due to COVID-19?"

President Moon made this remark during a luncheon meeting with leaders of the five parties held at the Blue House, stating, "There might be judgments considering North Korea and the U.S.," according to Lee Dong-young, spokesperson for the Justice Party. It is reported that this statement was made in response to Justice Party leader Yeo Young-guk’s proposal to suggest to North Korea the cancellation or postponement of the August scheduled Korea-U.S. joint exercises and to hold a South-North Military Joint Committee meeting to open the door for inter-Korean dialogue.

If the second half joint exercises are scaled down, the Future Combined Command’s Full Operational Capability (FOC) verification for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) might not be possible. During the first half of this year’s training, our personnel did not move to the B1 bunker within the Capital Defense Command but used the command post inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff building. This was a measure to prevent COVID-19 infection during the training period. However, there have been criticisms inside and outside the military that since the training was not conducted at the optimal location assuming wartime conditions, it could cause various problems.

Military experts in the U.S. also emphasized the normalization of Korea-U.S. joint exercises. Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher and military expert at the RAND Corporation, said on the 25th to Radio Free Asia, "If 550,000 Korean soldiers are vaccinated, it will be possible to conduct the Korea-U.S. combined military exercises with live maneuvers in August without the risk of COVID-19 spread."

There are criticisms inside and outside the military that despite the vaccination for the second half joint exercises, there might be hesitance due to watching North Korea’s reaction. The South Side Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration issued a statement demanding that the summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden was a ‘talk fest without an action plan’ and called for action by suspending the Korea-U.S. joint military exercises.