USFK commander: “ROK-US exercises need a distributed approach”

[Financial News] General Xavier T. Brunson, commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command and commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said the ROK-US Combined Military Exercise should be conducted in a “distributed” format.
The ROK-US Combined Military Exercise is currently conducted as a large-scale command post exercise, but this is understood to mean that operations need to be carried out in a distributed manner across the Korean Peninsula to counter Korean People’s Army soldiers who have gained combat experience through their deployment to Ukraine.
Speaking at the Association of the United States Army’s annual event in Washington, D.C., on the 12th (local time), General Brunson said the ROK-US Combined Military Exercise is held twice a year as a large-scale command post exercise, adding, “We need to move away from this approach.”
General Brunson stressed that, given the reality that North Korea is gaining combat experience by deploying troops to the war in Ukraine, the fact that the situation has changed must be recognized. He also said, “I am discussing with Kim Seong-min, deputy commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, ways for us to conduct operations in a distributed manner.”
General Brunson asked, “What would it look like if we trained from Jeju to Gyeonggi Province?” He added, “Imagine us conducting training across the entire Korean Peninsula and being in a position to say (to North Korea), ‘You won’t be able to apply what you learned in Ukraine against us.’”
General Brunson’s remarks are understood to mean that a major change in the training approach is needed, given that the war in Ukraine has shown that forces in fixed positions are vulnerable to surprise attacks, including drone strikes.
With U.S. President Donald Trump having signaled last August that he was willing to resume North Korea-U.S. talks and ordered cuts to the ROK-US Combined Military Exercise, attention is focused on whether this will lead to actual changes in the way the exercises are conducted.
Meanwhile, General Brunson outlined the concept of “regional sustainment hubs” that U.S. Forces Korea has been pursuing, and noted that South Korea has a world-class defense industrial base and production capacity.
[email protected] Lee Jong-yoon Reporter