US Forces Korea chief calls for dispersed drills as North Korea gains combat experience
In short
US Forces Korea commander Xavier Brunson said he is discussing dispersed operations with South Korean military leadership and called for changes to training concentrated on large command-post exercises. Speaking in Washington on October 12, he cited North Korea's combat experience from deployments to the Ukraine war and the need to avoid becoming an easy target.
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US Forces Korea commander Xavier Brunson called for dispersed training alongside the large command-post exercises that South Korea and the United States conduct twice a year. At the Association of the United States Army annual event in Washington on October 12, he said the allies needed to move beyond the existing approach. He said he was discussing dispersed operations with Combined Forces Command deputy commander Kim Seong-min (김성민). [ 2 , 3 , 6 ]
Brunson said circumstances had changed because North Korea was gaining combat experience through deployments to the Ukraine war. He pointed to lessons about the vulnerability of forces concentrated in fixed locations as drones and modern surveillance and strike systems develop, according to Chosun Ilbo and Hankook Ilbo. He raised the possibility of exercises extending from Jeju to Gyeonggi province so that North Korea could not apply what it had learned in Ukraine against allied forces. [ 2 , 3 , 5 ]
Brunson also mentioned additional training between the two annual large exercises. He said he had recently conducted a strategic exercise without troops, flying by helicopter and considering a contingency. The allies hold Freedom Shield in the first half of the year and Ulchi Freedom Shield in the second. SBS and Korea Economic Daily cited military sources who understood the proposal as adding dispersed drills rather than changing the existing large command-post exercises. [ 2 , 6 , 8 ]
SBS reported that the allies had operated reserve command posts in Daegu and Jinhae during this year's Ulchi Freedom Shield and were coordinating next year's command-post exercise plans normally. Brunson's remarks came after President Donald Trump ordered a reduction in joint exercises in August while expressing interest in resuming dialogue with North Korea, the reports said. Chosun Ilbo noted that the extent of any actual changes to training remained uncertain. [ 3 , 6 , 8 ]
Why it matters
Brunson said forces should learn the same battlefield lessons and disperse rather than remain fixed in one place. Military sources cited by SBS and Korea Economic Daily understood his remarks as proposing additional dispersed drills alongside existing command-post exercises.
Key facts
- Brunson spoke at the Association of the United States Army annual event in Washington on October 12. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- He said he is discussing dispersed operations with Combined Forces Command deputy commander Kim Seong-min (김성민). [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]
- Brunson cited North Korea's combat experience in the Ukraine war as a reason to adapt. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- Military sources said the proposal concerned adding dispersed training rather than changing existing large command-post exercises. [ 6 , 8 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The extent and timing of any changes to joint training remain unspecified. Brunson described discussions and proposals; the reports do not announce a finalized new training schedule.