hankyoreh

Officers in the Korean military and Japan’s self-defense force listen to a briefing from a US soldier at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on July 5. (from the USINDOPACOM site)

The US announced it held a symposium with junior officers from South Korea and Japan at a US Forces Korea facility, the first such event to be announced in five years.

The symposium was notable since it took place after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on July 1 that he and the leaders of the US and Japan had “agreed in principle” during their summit in Madrid last month “on the desirability of resuming military and security cooperation, which have been suspended for some time, in response to the North Korean nuclear issue.”

According to articles posted on the websites of the US Army and the US Indo-Pacific Command on Sunday, the US Eighth Army hosted an “exchange symposium” for junior officers from the US, Korea and Japan on July 4-8. A total of 23 junior officers from the three countries attended the symposium, held at US Army Garrison-Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, among other locations.

Photographs published by the US military indicate that the participating officers hold the rank of first lieutenant.

The visiting officers viewed “tactical equipment and digital training systems” at Camp Humphreys and also “visited multiple sites across Korea to showcase training developments, equipment, facilities, and the ROK-US alliance,” the Eighth Army said.

“The symposium helped enhance understanding of each nation’s military, including operational terms, concepts, education and roles in the Asia-Pacific region. The event also helped foster the relationship between the allies whose junior officers will serve in future leadership roles.”

The last time the US announced this kind of event for junior officers from the three countries was five years ago, when a similar event was held at the US garrison in Yongsan, Seoul, on April 11, 2017.

Considering that the US had never before announced any trilateral events for junior officers, this unusual announcement was seen as a message about strengthening military cooperation between the three countries amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The news of the latest symposium also appears to signal that the three countries are resuming military cooperation, which they had suspended.

However, the fact that the symposium was organized by the US Eighth Army rather than US Forces Korea and that it was limited to working-level exchange suggests that the US hopes to avoid excessive political interpretations.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]