By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee has been keeping a close eye on the ongoing simulated command-control exercise by South Korean and U.S. troops focused on preparing for Seoul's takeover of wartime operational control in 2012, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday.
Since the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise began Monday, Lee has attended meeting of field commanders and observed the process of the drills at an underground bunker in the Capital Defense Command in Seoul, where Korea's independent operational command is established, the spokesman said.
It is the first time that a defense minister, who mainly takes charge of administrative defense affairs, has participated in the annual training exercise, he said.
In general, the joint military exercises by South Korean and U.S. forces are led by the South Korean Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The USFK chief concurrently serves as commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command.
``Minister Lee has slept and observed the drills at the bunker since the start of the joint exercises,'' the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. ``He has been briefed on crisis management measures, and he has sometimes given directions or advice during a morning conference.''
He dismissed worries by some critics that the defense minister's involvement could hurt the JCS Chairman's leadership during the drills.
``Lee just wants to play his role as the chief of the defense ministry, who is obliged to take charge of national crisis management and countermeasures,'' the spokesman noted.
Lee also wants to keep up to speed with the first military exercises led by South Korean troops in history, he added.
The UFG, formerly known as Ulchi Focus Lens, is designed to evaluate and improve interoperability between the allied forces in the event of war on the Korean Peninsula.
The communist state regularly denounces joint military exercises by South Korea and the United States, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. South Korea and the United States say the joint drills are purely defensive.
To prepare for Seoul's takeover of operational control of its troops during wartime from the U.S. military in 2012, South Korean commanders are taking on more leadership during the UFG exercises that will run through Aug. 22.
To that end, both militaries are running separate operational commands led by JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Tae-young and USFK Commander Gen. Walter L. Sharp. The two forces are supposed to conduct joint operations and strategic planning through a consultative body dubbed the "military cooperation center.''
About 56,000 South Korean troops and 10,000 American forces in South Korea and abroad are taking part in the command and control, warfighting exercise.
The decades-long U.S-led combined-forces mechanism on the peninsula is to undergo major changes under a landmark pact on command rearrangement plans reached early last year. The two militaries are on track to put a South Korean-led ``joint defense system'' in place.
Under the accord, South Korean commanders will execute independent operational control of their troops during wartime, beginning April 17, 2012, with the U.S military shifting to a supporting role under the agreement. The Combined Forces Command (CFC) is to be deactivated.
South Korea handed over peacetime and wartime operational control to the U.S.-led UNC at the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War. The command authority was transferred to the CFC in 1978. Seoul took over peacetime control in 1994.
Beginning this year, South Korean and U.S. forces are scheduled to conduct two sets of joint drills each year until 2011. The exercises will focus on transforming the U.S.-led combined forces structure to a South Korean-led separate command system.
The Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises in spring are led by the U.S. military, while the South Korean military takes the lead in the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise in fall. A final exercise unilaterally conducted by South Korean forces will take place in March 2012.