From Seoul, the South Korea-U.S. Joint Staff Headquarters said on March 7 that the two armies will conduct the first half of the joint command post exercise (CCPT) from 8-18. It is reported that the much-anticipated Future Joint Command “Full Operational Capability” (FOC) assessment will be postponed to the second half of the year. However, if the Epidemic is not under control by then, the assessment cannot be conducted in the second half of the year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea and the United States have decided to reduce the scale of the joint exercise due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. The command post exercise is usually divided into two parts: defense and counterattack, but this exercise is smaller than the previous one, so it will not be divided into specific areas. The exercise will also not implement field maneuver training. This is the third year since 2018 that South Korea and the U.S. will not conduct field training. The South Korean and U.S. Joint Staff Headquarters said the field maneuver training is not set for a specific period, but will be carried out several times during the year.
The report said the full operational capability of the future joint command will not be assessed during the exercise. The evaluation is aimed at verifying whether the future Joint Command, which will exercise wartime operational command, is capable of commanding and is the core element of the transfer of war powers. The future Joint Command will be commanded by a ROK general and a U.S. general as deputy commander.
The ROK-US Joint Staff Headquarters said the exercise will preview a portion of the theater operations led by the Future Joint Command in preparation for future verification of full operational capability. The remarks were interpreted as a preliminary assessment of whether the future Joint Command, led by a ROK general, has the capability to command theater operations by previewing theater operations, although full operational capability could not be assessed in this exercise. It is understood that South Korea and the U.S. will explore the option of assessing full operational capability in a joint exercise in the second half of the year. However, if the epidemic is not controlled, the joint Korean-US exercise scheduled for August will not be able to assess full operational capability.
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