US to fight limited NK provocation

By Kim Tae-gyu

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will automatically engage with North Korea even over a limited-scale provocation, if South Korea requests it.

ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo and Gen. James Thurman, commander of the USFK, signed a Combined Counter-provocation Plan to that effect last Friday, reporting of which was embargoed until Sunday at the request of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).

“By completing this plan, we improved our combined readiness posture to allow us to immediately and decisively respond to any North Korean provocation,” the CFC said in a statement.

“The completed plan includes procedure for consultation and action to allow for a strong and decisive combined Republic of Korea-U.S. response to North Korean provocations threats.”

The agreement comes after threats by the North to retaliate over international sanctions against it for its Feb. 12 nuclear test and other provocative actions.

The two allies have maintained a detailed plan for all-out war against the belligerent North but they have lacked one for limited conflicts such as when North Korean artillery bombarded Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

Concern has emerged about inter-Korea conflicts, particularly limited ones around the Northern Limit Line or Demilitarized Zone, as the North continues to ramp up its warlike rhetoric.

Gen. Jung does not deem the Stalinist regime’s threats just hyperbole.

“This plan will enable us to respond to provocations in more strong and decisive ways compared to the past when South Korea and the U.S. came up with separate countermeasures,” he said.

Thus far, South Korea has dealt with attacks by North Korea on its own, and if necessary, it could have asked for the participation of the USFK, which might have refused the request.

Under the new plan, the U.S. will accept the request under certain conditions, which were not made public, according to a military source.

Seoul will take the lead in executing a combined step against a contingency with Washington in a supporting role. The source said that the plan did not specify which U.S. military resources would be deployed.

Experts believe the U.S. will be able to provide reinforcements from within and outside South Korea including its bases in Japan and other military bases under the control of the U.S. Pacific Command.

After President Park Geun-hye decided to retain Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin last week as a scandal-laden nominee for the position withdrew, he said he pinned hopes on the new joint scheme as an effective deterrent to the North.

“It marks a one-step advance in the responses of South Korea and the United States against the North’s regional provocations. It is the ultimate measure to deter the North’s aggression,” Kim told reporters last Friday.

“It clearly empowers us to take countermeasures (against the North’s attacks) for self-defense.”