Javier Brunson, the commander of US Forces Korea, emphasized the need for distributed training in joint exercises to adapt to the changing security environment following North Korea's involvement in the Ukraine war. He stated that troops and command centers should not be fixed in one location to avoid becoming targets for North Korea, allowing operations to be conducted in a dispersed manner across the Korean Peninsula.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, D.C., on October 12, Brunson noted that the US-South Korea joint exercises are currently conducted twice a year in large-scale command post formats. "We need to move away from this approach," he said.
Brunson stressed the importance of recognizing the changed circumstances, as North Korea gains real combat experience through its deployment in Ukraine. He added, "We are discussing with Kim Sung-min, the deputy commander of the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command, how we can conduct operations in a distributed manner."
He posed a hypothetical scenario, asking, "What would it look like if we trained from Jeju to Gyeonggi Province? Imagine being in a position where we could say, 'What we learned in Ukraine cannot be applied to us.'"
Brunson emphasized the need for the US and South Korea to learn similar lessons and to disperse themselves in a way that avoids becoming targets. "It’s about not being fixed in one location," he said.
He also mentioned the possibility of conducting additional training between the two large-scale joint exercises held each year. Recently, Brunson conducted a 'no-troop strategic training' exercise while traveling by helicopter, simulating potential scenarios.
Every year, the US and South Korea conduct two major joint command post exercises: 'Freedom Shield' in the first half and 'Eulji Freedom Shield' in the second half. Brunson's comments suggest a need to incorporate distributed training into these regular exercises to respond to North Korea's evolving tactics.
Military sources indicated that the intention is not to change the existing large-scale command post exercises but to understand the necessity of additional distributed training. They noted that relying solely on existing exercises has limitations in countering North Korea's targeting and predicting allied movements.
In the context of President Donald Trump's directive in August to reduce US-South Korea joint exercises amid a willingness to resume dialogue with North Korea, it remains to be seen whether Brunson's remarks will lead to actual changes in the training approach.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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