USFK Faces Possible Demotion of Commander While USFJ Sees Possible Promotion
Here is the latest on enhnancing strategic flexibility of U.S. military forces in Korea and Japan:
In a contribution made to a Japanese daily newspaper, The Asahi Shimbun, Jost said, while stressing more cooperation with the Japanese Defense Forces, that the USFJ’s primary task would shift from “alliance management missions” to “operations that span the spectrum of operations from humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and armed conflict” over time. He referred to an expanded role for the USFJ in countering China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific region, writing, “The security, freedom and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific face increasing challenges from adversarial nations, primarily the People’s Republic of China … These threats are only intensifying.”
In tandem, local media has reported that the USFK was using a training map of the Asian region drawn upside down to illustrate the proximity of Korea to Taiwan and the Philippines, suggesting U.S. forces possibly being deployed, should a conflict arise centered on Taiwan or in the South China Sea. Gen. Brunson is expected to meet the Korean press this month to speak about the “strategic flexibility” of U.S. forces in Korea.
The combination of these comments signals that the Trump administration’s claims of strategic flexibility may materialize in not only deployment of U.S. forces in South Korea to other areas, but also a changed status for USFK command. Many eyes are watching the forthcoming U.S. National Defense Strategy, which will detail the U.S. administration’s defense posture globally as competition with China deepens. Additionally, there are reports that have some officials within the Trump administration proposing to elevate the commander of the USFJ to a four-star general level while demoting the status of the current USFK commander to a three-star general’s post.
To be sure, the USFJ has about 55,000 soldiers stationed in Japan and is considered a strategic command for Indo-China as well as bilaterally, while the USFK has 28,500 forces in South Korea. However, joint operations with the Japan Self-Defense Forces will not reach the capabilities of the USFK and the South Korean military anytime soon.
You can read more at the link, but reducing the USFK commander to a three-star would be a loss of prestige and influence for the ROK government with the United States. On the other hand, the USFJ commander becoming a four-star would be a positive for Japan. I can understand why the ROK government will want to lobby hard to keep the four-star position on the pen. However, why can’t they both just be three stars that work for the INDOPACOM four star commander?
In regards to strategic flexibility of U.S. troops in USFK this has already happened as the recent deployment of U.S. Patriot batteries from both Korea and Japan demonstrate.
Making USFK a 3 star has been discussed before, but when they were talking about OPCON transfer back in the early 2000s.
This, after Trump slapped down Japan with up to 35% tariffs for supposedly not buying American rice. Trump threatened to send a letter to Japan, with the tariffs to be charged. Is this supposed to be strengthening the alliance, or strengthening the American colony?
USFK doesn’t necessarily need to be a 4-star command, but the reality is that the USFK commander is also the UNC and CFC commander. Until that changes, the position needs to remain a 4-star billet.
I suspect the main reason we have kept so many troops in Korea for so long is the Army is loathe to lose that 4-star billet. Reduce it to 3-stars and the Army will be pushing to reduce its presence in Korea.