ID :
77549
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 11:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/77549
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean provocations set stage for U.S.-S. Korean war game: U.S. general
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's nuclear and missile tests set the stage
for the latest joint war game by South Korea and the United States that ended
this week, a U.S. military daily quoted the top U.S. commander here saying
Saturday.
Gen. Walter Sharp also said new units, including a combined intelligence group,
were tested during the Aug. 17-27 Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise, the
Stars and Stripes reported on its Web site.
The United States Forces Korea, which is in charge of the 28,500 U.S. soldiers
stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea, confirmed the interview was
held Friday.
The UFG, an annual computer simulation-based war game that involved 56,000 South
Korean troops and 10,000 U.S. soldiers this year was "very, very successful,"
Sharp was quoted as saying.
The May 25 nuclear test and a series of missile launches by North Korea earlier
this year essentially served as a dress rehearsal for the UFG because South
Korean and U.S. commanders were able to coordinate their response, the paper
quoted him as saying.
The general, however, said the allies -- which fought the 1950-53 Korean War
together -- "still have a ways to go" before Washington hands over wartime
command of South Korean troops to Seoul.
The entire operational command of the South Korean army was relinquished to the
U.S. commander of the United Nations (UN) forces at the onset of the three-year
conflict that ended in a truce.
Peacetime control was returned in 1994 to South Korea. The two countries have
agreed to restore wartime control in 2012, after which the U.S. will continue to
station its forces here.
According to the Stars and Stripes, Sharp will give his first annual assessment
report on the capacity of the South Korean military to reclaim control when the
defense chiefs of the United States and South Korea meet in Seoul in October.
"I'm confident we will be ready, but it's my job to give an honest assessment to
the secretary and the minister because we've got to be ready to go to war on the
18th of April, 2012," he said.
Sharp said the UFG, which North Korea routinely denounces as a preparation for
invasion, rehearsed a full-fledged North Korean offensive on South Korea.
The UFG revolved around "how we would stop them before they go to Seoul, and how
we would continue to the ultimate end state of the defeat of the North Korean
military," Sharp was quoted as saying.
New units and measures were put to a test during the exercise, including a
combined intelligence group that would feed same battlefield information to the
commanders of the allies, he added.
"In many cases, it's very, very similar to what we are doing now, but with a
[South Korean] lead," he was quoted as saying.
South Korea and the U.S. remain technically at war with North Korea, which put
its 1.2 million troops on a "special alert" in response to the exercise.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's nuclear and missile tests set the stage
for the latest joint war game by South Korea and the United States that ended
this week, a U.S. military daily quoted the top U.S. commander here saying
Saturday.
Gen. Walter Sharp also said new units, including a combined intelligence group,
were tested during the Aug. 17-27 Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise, the
Stars and Stripes reported on its Web site.
The United States Forces Korea, which is in charge of the 28,500 U.S. soldiers
stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea, confirmed the interview was
held Friday.
The UFG, an annual computer simulation-based war game that involved 56,000 South
Korean troops and 10,000 U.S. soldiers this year was "very, very successful,"
Sharp was quoted as saying.
The May 25 nuclear test and a series of missile launches by North Korea earlier
this year essentially served as a dress rehearsal for the UFG because South
Korean and U.S. commanders were able to coordinate their response, the paper
quoted him as saying.
The general, however, said the allies -- which fought the 1950-53 Korean War
together -- "still have a ways to go" before Washington hands over wartime
command of South Korean troops to Seoul.
The entire operational command of the South Korean army was relinquished to the
U.S. commander of the United Nations (UN) forces at the onset of the three-year
conflict that ended in a truce.
Peacetime control was returned in 1994 to South Korea. The two countries have
agreed to restore wartime control in 2012, after which the U.S. will continue to
station its forces here.
According to the Stars and Stripes, Sharp will give his first annual assessment
report on the capacity of the South Korean military to reclaim control when the
defense chiefs of the United States and South Korea meet in Seoul in October.
"I'm confident we will be ready, but it's my job to give an honest assessment to
the secretary and the minister because we've got to be ready to go to war on the
18th of April, 2012," he said.
Sharp said the UFG, which North Korea routinely denounces as a preparation for
invasion, rehearsed a full-fledged North Korean offensive on South Korea.
The UFG revolved around "how we would stop them before they go to Seoul, and how
we would continue to the ultimate end state of the defeat of the North Korean
military," Sharp was quoted as saying.
New units and measures were put to a test during the exercise, including a
combined intelligence group that would feed same battlefield information to the
commanders of the allies, he added.
"In many cases, it's very, very similar to what we are doing now, but with a
[South Korean] lead," he was quoted as saying.
South Korea and the U.S. remain technically at war with North Korea, which put
its 1.2 million troops on a "special alert" in response to the exercise.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
