Dangerous mismatch

: North Korea gains battlefield experience as South Korea-US allies scale back drills

South Korea and the United States have scaled back field training exercises (FTX) during the Ulchi Freedom Shield, a combined military exercise, compared with last year.

Meanwhile, North Korea, which is accelerating its nuclear threat, is gaining real-world combat experience by deploying troops to Russia to fight in the war against Ukraine.

This year's UFS also provides an opportunity to assess South Korea's ability to lead the combined forces after assuming wartime operational control from the United States.

At a time when South Korea and the US should be further strengthening their combined defense capabilities, the two allies are instead curtailing military exercises and pushing ahead with the transfer of wartime OPCON, leaving the public understandably concerned about national security.

The allies will conduct 14 field training exercises, down from 22 last year, during the UFS scheduled for Aug. 17-27.

Likewise, during the Freedom Shield exercise in March, the allies reduced field training exercises from last year's 51 to 22 after differences emerged between South Korea and the US. According to reports, South Korean military authorities abruptly requested the US military cancel all combined field training exercises, and the two sides failed to agree on the number of exercises until the Freedom Shield details were announced.

Field training exercises involve moving actual troops and equipment to execute operational plans. Only when FTXs are integrated into the UFS can the allies meaningfully assess their combined defense posture.

The Lee Jae Myung administration plans to set a target year for the wartime OPCON transfer at the Security Consultative Meeting in November. But the proper order is to determine the timing of the transfer after the necessary military capabilities and conditions have been met. When strengthening the South Korea-US combined defense posture is more urgent than ever, it is hardly justified to reduce military exercises while rushing the transfer of wartime OPCON.

When it comes to national security, most South Koreans believe that the combined defense capabilities of the two allies are more essential to the nation's survival than anything else.

Retaking wartime operational control may be a matter of national pride for South Koreans, but more important is a matter of survival. This is why the combined defense capabilities must be further strengthened regardless of the OPCON transition.

In July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia wanted an additional 30,000 North Korean troops and that discussions were underway. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and they may have discussed an additional troop deployment and a visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Russia. The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia in 2024 became a reality shortly after Zelenskyy revealed that preparations were in progress.

If a military with no combat experience has to face one with real-world combat experience, it must train more frequently and under conditions as close to actual combat as possible. A military that seeks to avoid training has no chance of winning.

If North Korea receives advanced military technology from Russia in return for deploying troops, it could pose an entirely new level of threat to South Korea's security.

What is the state of the South Korean military's readiness?

Military discipline has recently deteriorated to an unacceptable level, with the media exposing frontline units where soldiers stood guard with unloaded rifles on the arbitrary orders of a corps commander. The incident in which South Korean forces nearly shot down a US drone during a training exercise highlights gaps in South Korea-US coordination.

To make matters worse, diplomatic friction is already emerging between Seoul and Washington over the controversies surrounding Coupang and South Korea's Information and Communications Network Act.

When South Korea and the US should be strengthening their combined defense posture, they are instead moving in the opposite direction, raising serious public concern that their military alliance may itself be weakening.

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