By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
A South Korean-led new theater war plan will be drawn up by the end of 2009 for the Korean military's independent exercise of wartime operational control beginning in 2012, a senior defense official said Thursday.
The plan will replace the U.S.-led joint war scenario, OPLAN 5027, formulated by the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).
``South Korea will initiate the new contingency plan and the United States, on their part, will draw up a plan regarding the size and procedures of reinforcements,¡?¡? the official said, requesting anonymity.
The two sides will finalize a war scenario combining the two plans through consultations, he said.
OPLAN 5027, first drawn up in 1974, aims to deter and execute a retaliatory offensive against North Korean forces with an overwhelming projection of troops, fighter jets and combat vessels in the case of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
Under the plan, the United States is supposed to dispatch up to 690,000 troops, 2,000 aircraft and 160 ships to the peninsula within 90 days after a war breaks out. OPLAN 5027 is revised every two years and the latest one is 5027-04, made in 2003.
As for concerns about the scope of U.S. force reinforcements under the Korean-led war plan, the official stressed the U.S. commitment to security on the peninsula.
``Numbers like 690,000 something are not important now. It is more important what forces will come,¡?¡? he said. ``Prior to the joint war plan, the two countries have a mutual defense treaty, and prior to the treaty, we have strong confidence in each other as trusted allies.¡?¡?
Along with the plan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) will also formulate a new joint war scheme in preparation for possible internal turmoil in North Korea, such as the collapse of the Stalinist regime and mass defections, to replace OPLAN 5030, JCS officials said.
JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Kwan-jin and CFC Commander Gen. B. B. Bell have already signed the ``Strategic Transition Plan¡?¡? for the transition of operational control (OPCON) over Korean forces during wartime from the United States to South Korea. Bell concurrently serves as commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and the United Nations Command (UNC).
The agreed plan outlines command rearrangements between the two militaries after the OPCON transfer and relevant timetables for formulating war plans and joint training exercises before the transition date on April 17, 2012.
``Through a deliberate process in incorporating multiple theater-level exercises and evaluations, the JCS will achieve initial operational capability as the theater war-fighting command by late 2009 and attain full operational capability by the end of 2011,¡?¡? a joint statement said. It said the USFK will change into a ``supporting war-fighting command.¡?¡?
Under the agreement, South Korea and the United States will create two separate military commands after deactivating the CFC, now in charge of executing operational control of both American and Korean forces in wartime.
They plan to establish an Alliance Military Coordination Center under the highest defense channel Military Committee for close coordination of armistice management and strategic issues.
About six coordination bureaus including those regarding information sharing, strategic planning, joint logistics support and digital command operations will also be set up.
Brig. Gen. Shin Hyun-don at the JCS¡?s strategic planning division said the two militaries agreed to conduct five joint rehearsal exercises between 2010 and 2012.
During the exercises in the spring of 2010 and 2011, the two allies will carry out drills based on OPLAN 5027, while training during the autumn will be conducted in accordance with the new war plan, Shin said.
The final joint training exercise will be held late February or early March, he said.
South Korea voluntarily put operational control of its military under the American-led UNC shortly after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. It took back peacetime control of its forces in 1994, and is due to regain wartime OPCON at 10 a.m. on April 17, 2012.