Are ROK-U.S. War Games Only for Defense?
Operational plan 5027-04 is a sticking point between citizens' groups and the military authority
Kim Tae-kyung/Cheong Wook-sik (internews) Email Article Print Article
Published 2006-04-07 15:18 (KST)
U.S.-ROK Joint Exercise: Offensive or Defensive? / Kim H.J.
Does the Joint Military Exercise of South Korea and the U.S. aim at defending itself or attacking North Korea? Or does it have a combined purpose of defense and attack? OhmyTV reports some relevant scenes, which may inflame long-standing issues between citizens' groups and the military authority.
"The Joint Commander of the ROK (Republic of Korea, South Korea) and the U.S. Combined Force ordered amphibious operations in order to push and isolate Pyongyang. To accomplish this, the authority issued its first order for the landing forces to conduct amphibious operations at 9 a.m. on March 30 in the North-western coastal regions."
OhmyTV reported the briefing of the Ministry of Defense before officials of the ROK and U.S. military authorities on March 30. The military exercise conducted on the day was part of the "Reception, Staging, Onward-Movement and Integration and Foal Eagle (RSOI-FE)" training of the combined forces.
The command post for the training was built near the highway in the Manripo beach on March 30. The military authority briefed the purpose of this military exercise by using microphones and amplifiers. Therefore, villagers and tourists in town, as well as reporters, could hear all the announcements of the authority.
It seems that the military authority wanted to warn North Korea by announcing its exercise in a public place. The following is some of the briefing.
The military force conducted the RSOI exercise in the Manripo beach in Taean County, Seosan City, Chungnam Province, on March 30.
©2006 Kwon W.S
©2006 Kwon W.S
"Our army annihilated the North Korean troops in the 'A' region, and is continuously marching towards the northern region. Our 'B' force is attacking the enemies in the eastern region and preparing for its victory against the North Korean army.
The Air Component Command (ACC) maintains the superiority over the North Korean air force. The Marine Component Command (MCC) is also deploying its forces to the north in order to support amphibious operations at the western coast. The command of the Combined Marine Corps of the ROK and the U.S. is preparing for amphibious operations in the western coast in order to isolate Pyongyang...
All the necessary conditions (for amphibious operations) are well-prepared at this moment. The 'C' region, located in the frontline area, has been already taken over by our military."
In the briefing, the Joint Military Authority announced specific regions to occupy before the invasion of Pyongyang and specific areas where the Combined Military Forces would land. According to Tongil News (Reunification News), the third stage and the second part of the operational plan "5027-04" was applied to this military exercise.
The government of South Korea and the U.S. military authorities have emphasized that the RSOI-FE aimed at restraining a war and focuses on defense. They have argued that the Combined Forces of the ROK and the U.S. could improve its capabilities through this exercise so that it could more efficiently defend the Republic of Korea from enemies.
Park Geun-hye, the Chairperson of the Grand National Party in South Korea, said on April 4 that a few citizens' groups and students falsely claimed the defensive joint military exercise as an offensive action against North Korea. She also criticized the government of South Korea for neglecting to prevent the illegal, dangerous, perennial demonstration of students.
The OPLAN-5027 defines North Korea's reaction to the bombing of the U.S. as one of "contingent situations."
The Combined Force of the ROK-U.S. conducted its RSOI training on the Manripo beach in Taean County, Seosan City, Chungnam Province on March 30.The command post’s tent was set nearby motels and sea.
©2006 Kwon W.S
However, the briefing of the Ministry of Defense strongly implies that the purpose of the RSOI-FE includes not only defensive strategies, but also the occupation of North Korea.
Let's take a close look at the content of the OPLAN-5027-04.
After the end of the Korean War, the initial purpose of the strategic plan was to repel the North Korean military north over the 38th parallel. However, the plan has been gradually changing to be more offensive. Particularly, the principle of the plan has been greatly altered after George W. Bush was inaugurated president of the U.S. in 2000.
Kwon Young-ghil, a parliament member from the Democratic Labor Party, disclosed the "2002 guidelines of strategic planning" to the public in October last year. According to this document, the Combined Force Command (CFC) and the United Nations Command (UNC) designate "strategic purposes" of the strategic plan as to destroy the North Korean military, to remove the North Korean regime and to promote conditions for the reunification in the Korean Peninsula by the amendment of the OPLAN-5027-04.
The OPLAN-5027-04 newly defines the concepts of "contingency in the Korean Peninsula."
The plan previously limited contingent situations in an invasion by North Korea or clear indications on an invasion. However, the Bush administration has included North Korea's reaction to bombing by the U.S. in the contingency plan.
As North Korea's revenge against bombing by the U.S. can trigger a war under the conditions of the strategic plan, it would not be convincing to explain that the purpose of the RSOI-FE was to defend (rather than to attack) if the recent training was conducted according to the plan.
The strategic plan implies that the CFC has adopted the concept of "preventive war" in its military strategies against North Korea.
Furthermore, the plan has become closely connected to other strategic plans such as the 5026 and the 5029.
The Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) of South Korea and the U.S. drew outlines of the above changes on Dec. 6, 2002 -- at the end of the Kim Dae-joong administration in South Korea. The new content of the plan was adopted in December 2003 after a review process throughout the summer -- in the beginning of the incumbent Roh Moo-hyun administration.
"No interference in special police duties"
The content of the OPLAN-5027 has been circulated in public through overseas security related institutes and domestic and international media. However, the governments of South Korea and the U.S. have never confirmed the content, including the isolation and surrender of Pyongyang and the removal of the Kim Jung-Il regime in North Korea.
Therefore, the briefing of the Ministry of Defense on the Manripo beach has, in fact, confirmed the media's report on the OPLAN-5027.
On March 30, members of citizens' groups and NGOs attempted to bloc the soldiers of the Combined Force from conducting the amphibious exercise on the Manripo beach. The Ministry of Defense laid a complaint against 18 people from the citizens' groups for "interference in special police duties."
The citizens' groups and NGOs held a press conference in front of the Ministry of Defense on April 4. They argued that this joint military exercise violated the principle of peace adopted in Article 5 of South Korea's Constitution, as well as the Mutual Defense Treaty between the ROK and the U.S. According to them, their attempt to prevent offensive military training against North Korea must be justified.
You Young-jae, a team leader of the citizens' group, Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea, said that the suspicion of "interference in special police duties" could only be applied to actions that interfered with the legal execution of official duties. However, according to You, this accusation against the citizens' groups is invalid because the joint military exercise was not an appropriate official duty.
From 'Defense' to 'Offense'
The changes in the history of OPLAN-5027
©2006 Kwon W.S
The OPLAN-5027 was initially created to prevent and defeat an invasion by North Korea.
The operational plan was prepared shortly after the end of the Korean War, and initially focused on defensive strategies to repel North Korea over the 38th parallel if it invaded South Korea. The U.S. partially changed the initial plan in 1973 by adopting the "Forward Defense" strategies allowing for the occupation of Kaesung City in North Korea when it comes to a push. However, by then, the plan did not include a strategy to occupy the entire territory of North Korea by force.
However, since the mid-1980s, the plan has been more significantly changed. The "strategies for the occupation of North Korea" has become part of the OPLAN-5027, as the U.S. introduced tactics of air assaults attacking the core territories of enemies in its military strategies.