Korea, US hold 1st joint tabletop exercise to counter wartime disinformation

Gen. Xavier Brunson, left, commander of U.S. Combined Forces Korea and Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, salute in front of the defense ministry in Seoul, Jan. 8. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seog

Korea and the United States have held their first joint tabletop exercise aimed at countering foreign disinformation campaigns during wartime, military sources said Sunday.

Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the United States Forces Korea conducted the exercise at the JCS headquarters in Yongsan on Friday, with participation from the United Nations Command and the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, according to the sources.

The exercise also brought together Korean government agencies, including the defense, foreign and culture ministries, in a whole-of-government response effort, marking the first multi-agency exercise aimed at countering disinformation campaigns.

The exercise focused on "the synchronization of operations within the information environment," the USFK said in a press release.

The exercise, in particular, centered on three lines of joint response: countering foreign disinformation, synchronizing allied responses across multiple domains and aligning strategic communications, USFK said.

"Ensuring the ROK-U.S. Alliance, alongside our multilateral partners, can maneuver decisively in the information environment is a strategic priority," USFK said.