By Lee Tae-hoon
South Korean and U.S. troops will hold another annual joint military drill on the peninsula from Feb. 28 to March 10, the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) announced Tuesday.
The 11-day Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise will involve about 12,000 U.S. troops stationed here and overseas, along with 200,000 South Korean troops, a CFC spokesman Kim Young-kyu said.
Key Resolve is a command-post drill using computer-based simulations to respond to any potential contingency that could arise on the peninsula.
Foal Eagle, which runs concurrently, is a joint and combined field training exercise focused on ground maneuvers, air, naval, expeditionary and special operations forces.
“We are exercising alliance actions to a number of realistic scenarios beyond defeating a conventional attack,” said Gen. Walter Sharp, the CFC commander and head of some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
“Through these scenarios, we will exercise alliance crisis management, deterring and rapidly defeating provocations and defensive operations.”
Col. Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman at the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drills will focus on practicing the allies’ tactics to prevent North Korea’s armed provocations and prepare for possible full-scale war with the North.
Last year, a North Korean torpedo sank the South Korean frigate Cheonan, killing 46 sailors aboard in March. Then in November, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island, saying that it was in legitimate defense as the South was carrying out military drills toward the North.
Security experts say the two attacks last year may be linked to a move by the North’s military to try to establish credentials for the country’s successor-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-il, incumbent North Korean leader, who turns 69 today, suffered a stroke in 2008 and his son Jong-un is believed to be in his late 20s.
Defense sources, however, said the scenarios may also include the break out of civil war should the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il die suddenly and his heir Jong-un fail to seize control.
When asked whether a U.S. aircraft carrier would join the upcoming drills, the CFC spokesman said the decision had yet to be made.
“At this point, I cannot confirm whether a U.S. aircraft carrier will take part in the drills or not. But, I will let the press know if an aircraft carrier joins,” Kim said.
He noted that United Nations Command notified North Korea of the exercise dates and that the drills are entirely defensive in nature.
Pyongyang, however, denounced the war games as a rehearsal for invading the North.
During the upcoming drills, Seoul and Washington also plan to intensify their joint training intended to search and destroy North Korean weapons of mass destruction, military sources here said.
South Korea and the United States have held two joint military drills last year, first in the East Sea in July and the second in the Yellow Sea in December.
