Korea-US joint military drills begin Monday

Military helicopters are parked at U.S. Army base Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, April 13, ahead of joint military drills with South Korea. The South and the United States kick off computer-simulated training drills based on the allies' wartime contingency plans, which runs from Monday through April 28. Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea and the United State will kick off their springtime joint military drills from Monday through April 28, amid rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

North Korea could stage another provocation on Military Foundation Day on April 25.

Following a four-day crisis management staff training (CMST) last week, the ensuing combined command post training (CCPT) is a computer-simulated command post exercise (CPX) that does not involve any field exercises, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) explained, Sunday.

"This drill is going to improve Korean and the U.S. soldiers' ability for combined operations and further solidify combined defense," the JCS added.

North Korea commemorates the founding of Korean People's Revolutionary Army on April 25. This year marks the 90th anniversary of its establishment by Kim Il-sung and experts speculate that North Korea might celebrate it with a big military parade.

Since Pyongyang strongly rebukes the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, North Korea might resort to further provocations to oppose the joint drill around the time when South Korea's new Yoon Suk-yeol administration is inaugurated on May 10 and U.S. President Joe Biden visits the South around mid-May.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, said Kim Jong-un mentioning "nuclear combat forces" during his recent visit to a missile test might be a warning to Yoon who advocated a "preemptive strike" against North Korea's missile attacks.

"Kim Jong-un is likely to pressure South Korea's new administration and the U.S. during the South Korea-U.S. joint drill and Biden's visit to South Korea by testing a new guided weapon and small nuclear warhead," Lim said.

This is going to be the last South Korea-U.S. combined training under the Moon Jae-in administration.

Seoul and Washington agreed to conduct a full operational capability (FOC) assessment this year during a security consultative meeting last December, but it is not included in the springtime joint drill and the details are likely to be discussed with the incoming Yoon government after May.

Previously, South Korea and the U.S. notified North Korea of the joint drill's schedule and its defensive nature via a direct line between the United Nations Command and Pyongyang. But the Ministry of National Defense said during a regular briefing last week that it does not have plans to do so this time.

In 2016 and 2017, the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command announced the joint drill through a loudspeaker at border truce village of Panmunjom through the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission.