Seoul, Washington advance FS drills for FOC

South Korea and the United States are set to conduct their annual joint military exercise, Freedom Shield (FS), for about two weeks in the first half of the year, according to government sources. Although South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young and others have called for adjustments to help improve inter-Korean relations, Seoul and Washington have reportedly agreed to proceed as planned to accelerate the transfer of wartime operational control. North Korea has strongly condemned the exercise, calling it a “nuclear war drill.”

According to sources on Feb. 3, FS is scheduled to run from March 9 to 19. A crisis management exercise (CMX) will precede it from March 3 to 6. Freedom Shield is a command post exercise that simulates South Korea-U.S. military operations in the event of a full-scale North Korean invasion. The drills include defensive operations, counteroffensives, the removal of North Korean leadership, and the neutralization of nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has denounced the exercise as a “provocative rehearsal of invasion.”

Some observers had suggested postponing Freedom Shield in light of speculation about a possible North Korea-U.S. summit following U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in April. The Ministry of National Defense, however, reportedly concluded that holding the exercise on schedule is necessary to meet targets for transferring wartime operational control during President Lee Jae-myung’s term.

A government source said that during last November’s Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), South Korea and the United States agreed to complete the second stage of the three-step process for transferring wartime operational control within this year. That stage involves verifying full operational capability (FOC). “Because of that agreement, Freedom Shield must proceed as planned,” the source said. The official added that joint exercises in the second half of the year will also follow the usual schedule to complete FOC verification and determine the year of the transfer.

The South Korean presidential office is expected to address Freedom Shield at a National Security Council standing committee meeting on Feb. 5. Officials said the exercise schedule was finalized following consultations between South Korean and U.S. military authorities. They added that postponement is considered difficult because the drills are closely linked to the operational control transfer process.

At the same time, officials are reportedly reviewing whether to spread outdoor field exercises over a longer period rather than concentrating them during Freedom Shield, as is typically done. When asked whether the measure was intended to ease North Korean backlash, another government source said the proposal stemmed from concerns that compressing outdoor training into a short timeframe undermines training effectiveness.


Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com