Realigning the U.S. Forces and South Korea's Defense Reform 2020

Abstract

Abstract In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Pentagon came up with the Global Defense Posture Review in an effort to effectively deal with the terrorist threats. The U.S. Defense Department's strong commitment to the military transformation stems from America's successful wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The idea of network-centric warfare for speed-oriented effect-based operations necessitated the Pentagon to change America's global footprints toward reshaping its military to be able to rapidly respond to the elusive and transnational threats. The U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) accordingly proceeded to relocate the heavily armed division-strong ground forces (2nd Infantry Division) near the DMZ to south of the Han River where expeditionary airlift or sealift would be readily provided. Facing growing concerns among senior Koreans over decreased readiness against North Korea's surprise attack, the USFK promised to introduce 140 new items of highly lethal and effective ISR PGMs assets to Korea. At the same time, the ROK armed forces are required to increase their combat capability and to assume more responsibility for defense on the peninsula, which is heralded by the 10 mission transfers from the USFK, including for example, the counter-artillery operations command mission. In 2005, the ROK Ministry of National Defense made public a Korean-version of the military transformation in the name of Defense Reform 2020. Different from the Pentagon's grand plan, the ROK military's transformation is confined to comprise primarily an ambitious weaponry modernization and building network-centric forces. Denial strategy with sufficient capabilities for defense operations in and around the peninsula was embedded in the program, which in its design process excluded longrange mobility assets and an offensive posture. Should the ROK military succeed in transforming its armed forces to be truly network-centric, and thus sufficiently interoperable with the USFK, South Korea will remain as a crucial security partner for the United States in Northeast Asia. Furthermore, holding fast the competent military of the ROK, a success story of American engagement in Asia, the Pentagon's diplomatic war on terrorism in the arc of instability will be much more successful.