By Nothing ground breaking here, but more details about the structure of USFK after the 2012 handover of wartime control have been announced:
U.S. and South Korean forces will operate under three military commands — one American and two South Korean — after South Korea takes over wartime control of all troops in the country in 2012.
The biggest change will be the inactivation of the Combined Forces Command, now headed by a U.S. general. Two new commands will take its place: the U.S. Korea Command, and the South Korean Joint Forces Command, headed by a South Korean general who would lead the militaries during war.
“This is much more than a renaming of commands. It is a transformation of how we perform the military mission in South Korea,” U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Dave Palmer said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.
If a war broke out in South Korea today, the top U.S. general on the peninsula would lead South Korean and U.S. troops. That leader — now Gen. Walter Sharp — heads U.S. Forces Korea, the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command.
The United States and South Korea announced plans to transfer wartime control to South Korea several years ago, but USFK has not described the command structure until now. The planned transfer is to take place at 10 a.m. on April 17, 2012.
USFK will be replaced by the U.S. Korea Command, or KORCOM, to be headquartered in Pyeongtaek and led by a four-star general. That command will support but not be subordinate to South Korea’s Joint Forces Command, Palmer said.
The third command, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, exists today and is similar to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. The current U.N. Command will remain, with the senior U.S. military officer in South Korea as commander. [Stars & Stripes]
What I find interesting about all this is that this new command is being organized to counter an enemy the South Korean government says does not exist:
Without diluting its political stand on the hostility with North Korea, South Korea decided not to describe its neighbor as an “enemy” in its defense white paper, to be published in December.
The defense ministry said in a statement Thursday that it will clearly mention the “very substantial and present threats” the communist nation poses to the security of South Korea. [Nasdaq.com]
12:10 pm on August 30th, 2008 1
This is unrelated, but I noticed you recently posted about the Gwangju News and George Katsiaficas; thought you might be interested in some of the more recent letters, which I’ve posted on my site: http://www.ghosttreemedia.com
Nice blog btw!
-van
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4:25 am on August 31st, 2008 2
Do people out there still believe that we maintain troops in South Korea to protect the south from the north?
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9:52 am on August 31st, 2008 3
Just wondering?
How much does all of this have to do with some 4-star General’s ego?
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8:29 pm on August 31st, 2008 4
Rob@2,
The masses in the US — the folks who pay the bills — MUST believe this. It’s irrelevant what we think. Most older military heads look at the troops in Korea as simply sitting in a staging area for regional conflicts, but the US masses won’t buy this. I personally believe the North would NEVER commit suicide and invade, but this belief negates the existence of the USFK. In the Roh Moo-hyun era, the USFK trained for its “mission” without having a “main enemy” according to the ROK Ministry of Defense. That the non-existent “main enemy” killed ROK Navy folks made the whole scene surreal.
But the main point is that reality doesn’t matter. It only matters that the US people believe the North is ready to invade the South. If they didn’t, the USFK would have marching orders to depart Korea in a heartbeat.
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1:38 pm on October 2nd, 2008 5
The US military in Korea is deployed in such a way so as to defend against the greatest of all threats, the loss of general officer positions including a four-star billet.
Ever since a North Korean pilot defected by flying south and no one sounded the alarm, the jig has been up. An angry President Kim Young Sam called a conference of “all those military leaders responsible for the defense of the Korean Peninsula.” The CFC/UNC/USFK commander was not included. Message received.
The Koreans can and should defend the peninsula themselves but they also recognize that in the short term it could cost billions to replace the deterrent capability provided by American forces, billions they understand would be better spent on infrastructure to help make their industry more competitive in a world economy. So while we are sending uparmored hummers to the 2ID because they were useful in Afghanistan, the Congress is voting on a $700B bailout plan for the American economy.
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