South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise is officially launched in two parts: defense and counterattack

　　China News Service, August 18, according to comprehensive Korean media reports, according to the Korean military, the first theater-level South Korea-US joint military exercise in 2020 kicked off on the 18th local time. South Korea and the United States started the joint command post exercise in the second half of 2020 at 7 a.m. on the same day. The first defensive exercise was held from the 18th to the 22nd, and the second counterattack exercise was held from the 24th to the 28th.

Data map: The U.S. B-1B bomber formation flew over the peninsula to participate in the annual large-scale joint air exercise "Vigilant Ace" (Vigilant Ace).

　　According to reports, South Korea and the United States held a rehearsal crisis management staff training (CMST) from August 11 to 14. South Korea and the United States originally planned to conduct joint military exercises from the 16th, but because an officer scheduled to participate in the training was diagnosed with the new crown virus on August 14, the two sides urgently postponed the training schedule.

　　According to the report, the South Korea-US joint military exercise mainly uses computer simulation to conduct joint command post exercises. The exercise is of a defensive nature and focuses on improving wartime crisis management capabilities and overall combat mission execution capabilities. Taking into account the new crown epidemic, the scale of the exercise has been greatly reduced.

　　In addition, the South Korean and US military authorities will also prepare for the transfer of wartime combat command during the exercise. However, Korean media previously stated that in order to regain wartime operational command from the US, the Korean army must assess the full combat capability of the future coalition command. The Han army originally planned to complete the assessment work in this exercise, but the US military has a negative attitude towards the assessment work on the grounds that it is difficult to deploy troops under the epidemic and the scale of the exercise has shrunk.

　　The report pointed out that the South Korean government originally planned to complete the full operational capability evaluation in 2020, and to conduct the full mission capability (FMC) evaluation in 2021, and strive to regain the wartime operational command in 2022. However, in view of the possibility that it will be difficult to complete the full combat capability assessment in 2020, the plan to withdraw the wartime combat command authority may be postponed.