Second Half U.S.-South Korea Joint Military Exercises to Begin August 10

It has been reported that South Korea and the United States will begin joint military exercises starting on the 5th. The photo shows a US 2nd Infantry Division M1A2 SEP tank crossing a pontoon bridge during the South Korea-US joint river crossing operation training held in December 2015 at the Hantan River in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do.

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[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Korea-U.S. Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) will be conducted from August 10 to 27.

A military official stated on the 26th, "Starting next week, when the COVID-19 vaccines supplied by the United States are administered to 550,000 members of our military, there should be no disruption to the schedule of the combined training."

Due to the COVID-19 situation, the Korea-U.S. alliance was unable to verify the Full Operational Capability (FOC) of the Future Combined Command for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON). During the first half of this year's training, our personnel did not move to the B1 bunker within the Capital Defense Command but used the command post inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff building. This was a measure to prevent COVID-19 infection during the training period. However, there have been criticisms both inside and outside the military that since the training was not conducted at the optimal location assuming wartime conditions, it could cause various problems.

Military experts in the United States also emphasized the normalization of the Korea-U.S. combined training. Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher and military expert at the RAND Corporation in the U.S., said on the 25th to Radio Free Asia, "If 550,000 Korean soldiers are vaccinated, it will be possible to conduct the Korea-U.S. combined military training with live maneuvers in August without the risk of COVID-19 spread."

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However, if the Korea-U.S. combined training proceeds normally, North Korea's backlash is expected. The South Side Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration issued a statement criticizing the summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden as a "talk fest without an action plan," and demanded action by suspending the Korea-U.S. combined military training.

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