By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea and the United States launched a combined division Wednesday as part of efforts to bolster deterrence against North Korea.
The creation came after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Choi Yoon-hee and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti agreed to a force enhancement plan in July last year to fortify their joint defense posture and “tactical-level” combat capabilities to better deter threats from Pyongyang.
A ceremony to commemorate the successful creation of the division took place at Camp Red Cloud, the headquarters of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division (2ID), in Uijeongbu, just north of Seoul.
The new division consists of 2ID and a brigade from the ROK Army. It is commanded by Maj. Gen. Theodore D. Martin, commander of 2ID, with a Korean brigadier general as his deputy, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
The ministry said that each entity will carry out normal duties within its assigned area during peacetime, with a skeleton crew of 30 staff from the South Korean army staying at Camp Red Cloud. The division will be activated when a threat is detected.
“The creation of the combined division is expected to help strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance and foster experts capable of carrying out combined operations,” the ministry stated in a press release.
It is the allies’ first combined military unit capable of carrying out actual combat missions since the South Korea-U.S. Combined Field Army Command was disbanded in July 1992.
Meanwhile, ministry officials made it clear that the creation of the new division does not mean that some American soldiers of 2ID will remain in Uijeongbu, wary of concerns over possible setbacks to the U.S. base relocation plan.
They said Korean staff will work at the 2ID’s headquarters in Uijeongbu until it is transferred to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in 2016 in accordance with the Land Partnership Plan (LPP).
The U.S. Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul and 2ID are scheduled to move to Pyeongtaek by the end of 2016, according to the Yongsan Relocation Plan (YRP) along with the LPP.
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