South Korea Leads the Warfight
Abstract
The Republic of Korea - U.S. alliance is embarking on the most profound transformation affecting American forces on the peninsula since the Korean War. For the last 57 years, the United States has led the warfighting command responsible for the defense of the Republic of Korea (ROK). As the ROK military matured, the alliance evolved and adopted a number of command and control (C2) mechanisms integrating the ROK military into the decision-making process and command. In October 2006, the Presidents of the United States and the Republic of Korea agreed that South Korea is ready to assume primacy of its own defense in armistice, crisis, and war. In early 2007, the U.S. Secretary of Defense and ROK Minister of National Defense determined that South Korea will assume wartime operational control of its forces on April 17, 2012. The alliance is preparing to inactivate the 29- year-old warfighting Combined Forces Command (CFC) and simultaneously activate complementary national warfighting commands in 2012. U.S. Forces Korea will transform from a Title 10 oversight headquarters to U.S. Korea Command (USKORCOM), a fully capable, manned, and resourced joint warfighting command in a doctrinally supporting relationship to the ROK armed forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA518765
Entities
People
- B. B. Bell
- Sonya L. Finley
Organizations
- National Defense University