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South Korea’s K2 Black Panther tank

Amid their efforts to hasten the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), South Korea and the US are to hold joint military exercises in California this year with the participation of around South Korean 200 troops, including special forces units and the special operations command. With both sides working to speed along the OPCON transfer, their exercises are to proceed under a scenario where OPCON has actually been returned to the South Korean military.

In a regular Ministry of National Defense (MND) briefing on Feb. 3, MND Spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo was asked by a reporter about the extent of progress made with deployment of a South Korean armored unit to the National Training Center (NTC).

“At present, the South Korean military is promoting a joint exercise in the US in the interest of establishing a firm readiness posture and preparing for the wartime OPCON transfer,” Choi replied.

“This year, we are planning to hold joint small-unit exercises at the NTC in the US, with a focus on junior officers,” she added.

At the same time, Choi said that armed unit drills “have not been planned” for this year’s exercises. She went on to dispute press reports that the South Korean military was adopting “expeditionary exercises” in the US due to constraints amid adjustments to South Korea-US joint exercises on the Korean Peninsula following South and North Korea’s conclusion of their Sept. 19 military agreement in 2018.

“Currently, armed unit maneuver exercises and firing exercises are being conducted through various methods within the scope of what complies with the Sept. 19 military agreement,” she said.

According to accounts that day from military authorities, the NTC joint small-unit exercises in the US this year will not likely include armored unit drills involving K2 tanks or K9 self-propelled howitzers. But military authorities are reportedly considering holding such exercises sometime in 2022. Sources said the joint small-unit exercises by South Korea and the US at the NTC are essentially intended to maximize both sides’ strength in a wartime situation once OPCON has actually been transferred to the South Korean military. Located at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert region of California, the NTC is used for exercises involving rotationally deployed armed units from US Forces Korea (USFK). US mechanized units that are rotationally deployed to the US 2nd Infantry Division on the Korean Peninsula undergo final training at the center prior to arriving in South Korea.

Similar joint small-unit exercises to the ones scheduled to take place in the US were also staged in 2014 and 2019. But with this year’s exercises taking place in anticipation of an early OPCON transfer, they are to be much larger than before in terms of duration, number of participants, and budget. In 2014, the exercises took place over a roughly three-week period between June and July; last year, they were held for around three weeks in January. This year, however, the period will reportedly extend over 50 days, or around eight weeks during the months of March, May-June, and October-November -- more than doubling in length.

The number of participants in the exercises is also being increased substantially from around 180 in 2014 and 13 in 2019 to over 300 this year. The budget, which is reportedly close to 2 billion won (US$1.69 million), will also be much larger than in 2014 or 2019.

A military official explained that the exercises were intended as a “measure to thoroughly prepare for the OPCON transfer, which the current administration has been strongly pursuing.” In particular, this year’s exercises will reportedly be involving more special forces troops and special forces command members than in the past.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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