USFK Commander: "We Need to Train Across the Entire Peninsula, from Jeju to Gyeonggi"

Xavier Brunson, Commander of United States Forces Korea, has stated that there is a need to make changes to the traditional large-scale command post training format of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises.

This is interpreted as meaning that, given North Korea's combat experience gained through troop deployment to Ukraine, operations must be conducted in a dispersed manner across the entire Korean Peninsula to prevent forces from becoming easy targets.

Commander Brunson attended the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting held in Washington, D.C., on the 12th (local time).

Speaking at the event, he noted that South Korea-U.S. joint exercises have been conducted twice a year in a large-scale command post exercise format, stating, "We need to move away from this approach."

In particular, he emphasized that because North Korea has gained combat experience through its deployment to the war in Ukraine, it must be acknowledged that the situation has changed.

He explained, "We are discussing ways to conduct operations in a distributed manner with Kim Sungmin, Deputy Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command."

Commander Brunson asked hypothetically, "What would it look like if we trained from Jeju all the way to Gyeonggi Province?"

He continued, "Imagine a state where we conduct exercises across the entire Korean Peninsula and can say [to North Korea], 'You won't be able to apply what you learned in Ukraine to us.'"

He also stressed, "We learn the same lessons and disperse ourselves in a way that we are not targets, not being fixed in one place."

Commander Brunson also mentioned the possibility of conducting additional exercises between the two large-scale South Korea-U.S. joint exercises held each year.

He shared that he recently took a helicopter ride to conduct a "force-free strategic exercise" simulating contingency situations.

This is interpreted to mean that changes are needed in a way that adds decentralized training to the existing command post exercises, and that discussions are underway with South Korea regarding this.

U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his willingness to resume dialogue with North Korea last August and ordered a reduction in South Korea-U.S. joint exercises.

Attention is focused on whether actual changes will occur in the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise format in alignment with these circumstances.

South Korea and the U.S. conduct two large-scale command post exercises annually: Freedom Shield (FS) in the first half of the year and Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) in the second half.

A military source stated regarding Commander Brunson's remarks, "We understand this not as replacing the existing large-scale command post exercises, but as the intention that additional decentralized training is necessary."

The explanation is that relying solely on existing large-scale joint command post exercises could allow North Korea to identify targets and predict exercises, making them insufficient.

Accordingly, he conveyed that the intent is to additionally implement dispersed training methods.

In fact, it is reported that South Korea and the U.S. established and operated reserve command posts in Daegu and Jinhae during this year's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise.

It is also known that planning for next year's command post exercises is being normally coordinated.

Meanwhile, Commander Brunson also explained the "Regional Sustainment Hub" initiative that USFK has been pursuing.

He emphasized that South Korea possesses world-class defense industrial infrastructure and production capabilities.

Commander Brunson stated, "In the future, particularly in combat in the Pacific, sustainment is critical. Whether that's the ability to protect things forward, or the ability to be self-sufficient from South Korea within the first island chain."

He explained, "The Regional Sustainment Hub initiative means bringing those means of production into that theater."

He added, "Maximizing what our partners do well and applying it to our equipment."

Although he did not explicitly mention China, his remarks can be interpreted as suggesting ways to secure combat sustainability by utilizing South Korea's defense industry infrastructure in the event of a contingency involving Taiwan.

(Produced by Jin Sang-myeong | Video editing by Hong Jin-young | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.