By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The planned 2012 transition of wartime operational control could weaken joint deterrence capabilities of the South Korean and U.S. Marine Corps against North Korean attacks, an American defense expert said Thursday.
Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. from the U.S. Marine Corps Command & Staff College said adequate Marine Corps force improvement programs should be implemented to conduct broader operations in Northeast Asia as well as on the Korean Peninsula.
``There is perhaps no element of the ROK military that is more affected by this than the Marine Corps,'' Bechtol said in the 10th International Symposium for the ROK Marine Corps Development in Seoul. ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Given the South Korean Marine Corps, affiliated with the Navy, doesn't have enough air and amphibious assets, as well as command-and-control systems, it could face challenges in conducting independent operations or leading the advanced U.S. Marine Corps, said the expert.
Currently, the service is largely dependent on the U.S. Marine Corps for capabilities that it doesn't have, such as major logistics efforts, air support, C4I, naval gunnery support, and amphibious lift.
``Because of the small size of the ROK Marine Corps, there are many aspects about its current operations that rate examination and consideration,'' he said.
In 2007, Seoul and Washington reached a landmark deal on command rearrangements of their combined forces. Under the deal, both sides are to run separate theater commands beginning 2012 after deactivating the current ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command.
South Korean commanders will have the authority to command and control both South Korean and U.S. troops in wartime after 2012, with the U.S. military shifting to an air- and naval-centric supporting role.
Bechtol said the increase in the South Korean Marine Corps' capability is also crucial in conducting contingency operations against North Korea.
The South Korean Marine Corps must prepare for a possible collapse of North Korea and the ensuing stability operations that would be needed soon after, he said.
He also suggested South Korean Marines be dispatched on global humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.
``To date these (peacekeeping) operations have been dominated by ROK Army troops, but this is certainly a mission that ROK Marines could also handle with great efficiency,'' he said.