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The A group of F-16 fighter jets mobilize for the South Korea-US Vigilant Ace exercise in December of 2017. (Yonhap News)

Following South Korea and the US’ agreement not to hold Vigilant Ace – their large-scale joint aviation exercise normally held every December – this year, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced that the ROK Air Force will be conducting comprehensive drills in battle readiness from Dec. 3 to 7.

The drills will involve aircraft including F-15Ks, the ROK Air Force’s primary fighter jets, but the overall scale of the drills will reportedly be scaled back from previous years.

“The ROK Air Force will be using these exercises to maintain battle readiness and to improve pilots’ ability to carry out their duties. F-15K and other deployed assets will participate in each fighter wing, but the exercises will be on a smaller scale than they have been in previous years,” said a JCS spokesperson.

South Korea and the US will also be carrying out joint exercises on the level of battalions and smaller units. “We’ll be running small-scale joint exercises at the battalion-and-below level in order to improve the capabilities of South Korean and American Air Force pilots. The small scale means this won’t involve the deployment of American strategic assets such as stealth fighters or strategic bombers,” the spokesperson said.

During the 50th Security Consultative Meeting held in the US on Oct. 31, South Korea and the US resolved not to hold Vigilant Ace in order to provide military support for the diplomatic efforts to establish peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, they agreed to maintain a joint defense posture by continuing to carry out the drills that are essential for military readiness.

More than 270 aircraft in the US and ROK air forces participated in last year’s Vigilant Ace, which ran for five days in Dec. 2017. The US contingent in the drills included six F-22 stealth fighters, six F-35As and 12 F-35Bs along with strategic assets like B-1B long-range bombers based on the island of Guam.

North Korea protested that this was “a grave military provocation that could lead to a nuclear war.”

South Korea and the US are also deliberating the option of reducing the scale of joint exercises next year, including Foal Eagle. US Defense Secretary James Mattis recently said that “Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at [. . .] a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy” and explained that the exercise would be reduced in scope.

On Dec. 2, North Korean propaganda outlet Meari mentioned the Foal Eagle exercise while arguing that South Korea and the US should suspend their joint military exercises regardless of their size.

By Yoo Kang-moon, senior staff writer

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