Downscaling South Korea-US Joint Military Exercises Despite North Korea’s Threats

Published in Hankyung
(South Korea) on 5 July 2021
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Christine Lee. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
It is reportedly being discussed that the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise scheduled for next month may once again take the form of a computer-simulated exercise, without field training. Some even say that the exercise will be held in a scaled-down manner. As North Korea continues to advance its nuclear capabilities and raise the level of threat, South Korea’s national security will only be undermined.

South Korea-U.S. military exercises have been discontinued since the 2018 North Korea-U.S. Singapore summit. The only training that took place was the Command Post Exercise. At the South Korea-U.S. summit in May, when an agreement was reached to strengthen their combined defense readiness and U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned the provision of COVID-19 vaccines for 550,000 South Korean troops, there was a prospect of resuming field training. In fact, the U.S. constantly voiced concerns about the discontinuation of field training for the last four years. Gen. Paul LaCamera, the new commander of United States Forces Korea, said, “Live training is a lot better than virtual and constructive training.” Furthermore, the former commander worried that “the defense capability will inevitably be disrupted with no live training.”*

However, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said, “It seems difficult to hold a large-scale training.” The ruling party insisted on postponing the training and made the same demand of the U.S, but it was rejected. The COVID-19 pandemic is cited as the reason behind the demand, but it is merely an excuse given that the South Korean troops will collectively receive COVID-19 vaccinations in August. As a matter of fact, it is not hard to guess that it is because of North Korea. Earlier this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened, “There will be no spring day like three years ago,” demanding the abolishment of military drills. In response to the threat, the South Korean ruling party called for postponement, reduction and suspension [of the drills] at the time. Finally, the training in March was conducted in a reduced form. This would not have happened unless the government regarded the drills, which exist for the safety of people, as a subject for begging and bargaining with North Korea. Although the reduction in training was intended to use as a negotiation card for dialogue with North Korea, Kim Yeo Jung responded with a harsh comment: “a born fool.” It was a misjudgment after all.

At the military parades that were held in October last year and early this year, North Korea showed off its new, more advanced nuclear weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles. Research suggests that it will have up to 242 nuclear weapons by 2027. In other words, North Korea continued to develop nuclear and missile programs even after 2018, when the talks began. Yet, South Korea’s defense white paper no longer has the phrase, “North Korea is our enemy.” Moreover, South Korea-U.S. joint exercises have become meaningless, and the government’s interest lies only in resuming inter-Korean events. How much longer does one have to witness national security being sacrificed for political purposes?

*Editor’s note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.


내달 예정된 한·미 연합훈련이 이번에도 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션으로 실시되는 쪽으로 논의되고 있다고 한다. 실기동 훈련은 없고, 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션 훈련 규모도 축소될 것이라는 얘기마저 나온다. 북한은 갈수록 핵 능력을 고도화하며 위협 수위를 높이는 상황에서 우리 안보 기반만 허물어질 우려가 크다.

한·미 훈련은 2018년 미·북 싱가포르 회담 이후 사실상 없어졌다. 그나마 하는 훈련은 지휘소 도상훈련뿐이었다. 지난 5월 한·미 정상회담에서 연합방위태세 강화에 합의하고 조 바이든 미 대통령이 한국군에 55만 명분 코로나 백신 지원을 언급했을 때만 해도 실기동 훈련 재개 전망이 나왔다. 실제 미국에선 4년째 실기동 훈련이 사라진 데 대한 우려의 목소리가 끊이지 않았다. 폴 라캐머러 신임 주한미군사령관은 “실전 훈련이 컴퓨터 훈련보다 훨씬 좋다”고 했고, 전임 사령관은 “야외 훈련이 없다면 방위 능력에 차질이 생길 수밖에 없다”고 걱정했다.

그러나 문재인 대통령이 “대규모 훈련이 어렵지 않겠냐”고 한 뒤 여권은 일제히 훈련 연기 주장을 폈고, 미국에도 이런 요구를 했으나 거절당했다. 여권은 코로나를 이유로 들지만, 8월이면 군 장병 집단면역이 이뤄질 것으로 보여 핑곗거리에 불과하다. 실제론 북한 눈치보기 때문이라는 사실을 짐작하기 어렵지 않다. 올해 초 북한 김정은이 “3년 전과 같은 봄날은 없다”고 협박하며 훈련 철폐를 요구하자 여권에선 이때도 연기, 축소, 중단 목소리가 나왔다. 결국 3월 훈련은 축소된 채로 실시됐다. 우리 국민의 안위가 걸린 훈련을 대북 흥정거리, 구걸용쯤으로 여기지 않고서야 이럴 수는 없을 것이다. 훈련 축소를 북한과의 대화 카드로 쓰겠다는 것이었지만, 김여정으로부터 돌아온 것은 “태생적 바보”라는 막말이었으니 이런 오판이 없다.

북한은 지난해 10월과 올해 초 열병식에서 대륙간탄도미사일(ICBM) 등 한층 고도화된 신형 핵무장력을 과시했다. 2027년까지 최대 242개의 핵무기를 보유할 것이라는 연구 결과도 나왔다. 대화에 나선 2018년 이후에도 뒤로는 핵·미사일 개발을 꾸준히 해왔다는 얘기다. 그런데도 우리 국방백서에는 ‘북한은 적’ 문구가 사라졌으며, 한·미 훈련은 형해화됐고, 이 정권의 관심은 온통 남북한 이벤트 재개밖에 없는 듯하다. 정치적 목적을 위해 안보가 희생되는 일을 언제까지 지켜봐야 하나.
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