Category: US-ROK Alliance

There will probably be more missiles being fired by North Korea next week as the joint exercise between the ROK and South Korea is scheduled to begin:

South Korea and the United States will stage joint military drills as scheduled despite warnings from North Korea, the South Korean military authority said Sunday.

The joint drills will begin Monday with a computer-simulated command post exercise (CPX) to cope with any emergency on the Korean Peninsula and last for half a month, according to the authority.

After the CPX, the allies will spend the remaining 10 days intensively verifying Seoul’s capabilities for its envisioned retaking of wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from Washington.

But many watchers say the joint military drills could prompt further provocation from the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Considering that last year the US negotiators had to fight to get the ROK to pay $879 million for this year’s upkeep, I don’t expect them to pay $5 billion next year:

South Korea and the United States have agreed to conduct discussions in a “reasonable and fair” way on how to share the cost for the upkeep of American troops here, a foreign ministry official here said Tuesday.

The two sides talked about the upcoming negotiations over Seoul’s share of the cost for the stationing of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) for next year, when U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton visited Korea last week, the official said.

The local daily JoongAng Ilbo reported that Washington has tentatively decided to request that Seoul pay US$5 billion under a renewed bilateral cost-sharing arrangement for next year, more than a fivefold increase from the previous year.

“When U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton was visiting Korea on July 23 and 24, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to have consultations over the sharing of the defense cost in a reasonable and fair direction,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it would have been interesting to see the face of Moon administration officials when John Bolton dropped the $5 billion number.

The Blue House needs to have this exercise happen because it is part of the glide path for the ROK to take back operational control (OPCON) from the U.S. Taking back OPCON has long been a left wing goal that the Moon administration is trying to make happen:

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday that South Korea and the United States will proceed with their planned joint military drills as scheduled, despite North Korea’s warning.

North Korea’s state media said earlier in the day that the two short-range ballistic missiles the country fired Thursday were a “solemn warning” against South Korea, calling for the suspension of Seoul’s planned military exercises and its purchase of what it called offensive weapons.

Cheong Wa Dae said it will not issue an official statement regarding reports by the North’s media as it only responds to a country’s official stance.

When asked about the possibility to review the allies’ military drills, “It is known that nothing has changed,” a presidential official told reporters, asking not to be named.

Seoul and Washington plan to conduct the summertime exercise, named 19-2 Dong Maeng, to verify Seoul’s capabilities for its envisioned retaking of wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from Washington.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is another claim that has come out of the allegation that USFK tried to add Japan as part of the United Nations Command (UNC); they also wanted Germany to join as well:

 Early this year, the UNC finalized a legal review to lowering the bar for which countries can serve as sending states, according to sources, which could include nations like Japan or Germany.

It was also revealed by South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Thursday that the United States tried to have Germany dispatch military officers to the UNC, but the plan fizzled out due to opposition from Seoul. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

USFK for their part has denied the allegation they tried to have Japan become part of the UNC.

Here is USFK’s response to South Korean media reports that the U.S. was trying to add Japan as a member of the UNC:

United Nations Command continues to work closely with members of the Republic of Korea government on all aspects of the UNC organizational structure.

News reports alleging Japan being considered as a potential Sending State are flagrantly false. UNC has not offered, nor has Japan requested Sending State designation.

UNC is focused on maintaining peace and security on the peninsula as it has successfully done for more than 69 years to the great benefit of the region. Furthermore, as a top priority, UNC endeavors to support diplomatic efforts to find a lasting peace.

“UNC strives to work transparently and effectively with our participating member states and the Republic of Korea.,” said Gen. Robert B. “Abe” Abrams, UNC commander.

UNC is the home for international commitments which provides a ready-made coalition of longstanding friends and support, including in times of crisis.  UNC is committed to a stable transition to a new combined defense system following the transfer of wartime operational control to a ROK four-star led Combined Forces Command. There is no plan to make UNC an operational command.  Any suggestions otherwise are patently false. 

USFK.mil

Yonhap is reporting that this issue may have been caused by a mistranslation:

Japan is already home to a number of UNC rear bases that would be mobilized in the event of a crisis in Korea.

Speaking of the U.S.’ references to Japan’s role within the UNC in a recently issued annual publication, the Seoul ministry also said there seems to have been a “mistranslation” of the English text into Korean.

In the English version of the 2019 Strategic Digest, the U.S. said the UNC “continues to ensure the support and force flow through Japan that would be necessary in times of crisis.” But the Korean version says it continues to ensure the support and force flow “with” Japan.

Yonhap

I don’t buy the mistranslation causing such a huge false report like this to be published. I think this is probably domestic politics with the Moon administration trying to lift its approval ratings by appearing to stand up to the Americans to stop the Japanese from joining the UNC.

This would seem to be in line with President Trump’s call for Japan to do more militarily in support of the US. However, this is not going to go over well in South Korea:

The defense ministry on Thursday voiced strong opposition to an alleged push by the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) to include Japan as an official member, saying that, according to U.N. Security Council resolutions, Tokyo is not entitled to such status.

According to sources, the UNC is seeking to include Japan as one of the UNC’s “sending states,” a move likely to inflame public sentiment in South Korea amid renewed historical tensions with Tokyo.

Should Japan obtain the membership, it would pave the way for its military involvement in the event of an armed conflict on the peninsula — a scenario unthinkable for many Koreans who harbor grievances stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

Except for South Korea and the United States, the UNC currently has 16 sending states that are to provide combat troops, equipment and other forms of support in case of a contingency on the peninsula.

The sending states include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy and New Zealand. They have posted contingents at the UNC to support its operations centering on the observance and enforcement of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

“Japan did not participate in the Korean War, so it cannot serve a role as a sending state,” Col. Roh Jae-cheon, the deputy ministry spokesman told a regular briefing, citing U.N. Resolutions 83 and 84.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a good point, I wonder how infiltrated South Korea’s military is by compromised Huawei hardware?:

Washington may refrain from sharing sensitive intelligence with South Korea unless it stops using telecom equipment from the Chinese communications giant Huawei, according to the U.S. State Department on Thursday. 

The statement came in response to the JoongAng Ilbo’s question to the State Department on comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a radio show on Wednesday. Pompeo told conservative pundit Mark Levin on the show that the level of alertness shown by Washington’s allies in Asia to the national security risk presented by China “varies.”

When the JoongAng Ilbo asked whether Pompeo’s remarks reflected the U.S. government’s official stance that it wants Seoul to stop buying communications equipment from Huawei, a State Department spokesperson answered through a written response that the United States would have to review whether to share sensitive information with an allied country if that country’s communications network included equipment obtained from an untrusted vendor.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Kim Won Bong, 2nd person behind Kim Il Sung, reached ministerial level in Korea Workers' Party in #NorthKorea. He fought against #SouthKorea during the #Korean War. Yet #MoonJaein said KWB is "the root of SK military" & "the foundation of the SK-US alliance." Unbelievable! pic.twitter.com/lBRXj3AnK0

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) June 7, 2019

I guess we will see in the coming years if this actually happens or not since it is tied to the OPCON transfer that has been repeatedly delayed:

Seoul and Washington agreed Monday to name a Korean four-star general to lead the combined forces command (CFC) here, according to the defense ministry.

They also agreed to relocate the command’s headquarters, now in Seoul, to the U.S. Forces Korea’s Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek, citing the operational efficiency of the military forces.

The agreements were reached between Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his counterpart acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in Seoul, the ministry said.

Shanahan later visited President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae for talks on the alliance and issues regarding North Korea’s denuclearization, weeks ahead of the summit between Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled at the end of June. (………..)

Jeong and Shanahan also approved a plan to name the four-star South Korean general as a new leader of the CFC once the wartime OPCON transfer is completed, to take a separate role to lead in a combined defense, but not in assuming other duties. Currently a four-star U.S general heads the CFC.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Moon is trying to assuage any concerns USFK may be having in regards to the appeasement of North Korea by the ROK government:

“Despite the failure of the second summit between the United States and North Korea, they have continued to pursue avenues to maintain their nuclear dialogue, which I believe is thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal trust in North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and vice versa,” Moon said.

The allied commanders invited to the luncheon were Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki, USFK chief Gen. Robert Abrams, USFK Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, USFK Assistant Chief of Staff for Plans and Policy Maj. Gen. James W. Lukeman, Special Operations Command Korea Commander Maj. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind, and Eighth Army Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe, according to Cheong Wa Dae. 

This is the first time that high-profile USFK and South Korean military generals have attended a single event together, presidential aides said.

President Moon said the recent launches of short-range missiles by the North haven’t impeded the joint military readiness of the United States and South Korean military forces. 

“What we’ve achieved so far [for inter-Korean progress] was based on a stronger joint military readiness and commitment for a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. I want to thank you for your thoughtful and concerted rapprochement in handling the North’s recent missile launches. As we responded calmly to the recent launches, nuclear diplomacy is expected to remainon going,” Moon said, adding the presence of the USFK will continue regardless of the level of the peace process on the peninsula, given its pivotal role as a “balancer” for security in Northeast Asia. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but President Moon has been saying all the right things that USFK will remain after any peace treaty is signed, to include claiming Kim Jong-un understands this as well. However, this is likely just rhetoric to prevent energizing South Korean conservatives against a peace treaty. 

Remember Moon is a very skilled politician that needs to keep the Korean right at bay and public anxiety down.  If he openly advocated for a USFK withdrawal, that would give the South Korean right an issue to strongly attack him with and cause much public anxiety after decades of security guarantees provided by US forces.  That is why I think the Moon administration will publicly say they support USFK staying, but will then have surrogates do things to make life difficult for USFK. The anti-US groups in South Korea have already said they plan to do this.