I have always liked this idea of a combined division and it appears it will become a reality:
Headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Division in Uijongbu.
South Korea and the United States have agreed to establish a combined division of their troops next year that will be tasked with carrying out wartime operations, Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday.
The unit, slated to be organized in the first half of next year, will be comprised of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and a South Korean brigade-level unit, according to the ministry.
The 2nd Division commander plans to head the newly-made joint staff of the combined unit, with South Korea’s brigadier general-level officer to be its vice chief, the ministry said, adding that an equal number of dozens of service personnel from the two sides will form the leadership.
“While being operated in a separate fashion in peacetime, the 2nd Division and the Korean brigade will carry out joint exercises when necessary,” a ministry official said, asking not to be named.
In time of war, the two entities will get together to carry out diverse “strategic operations” such as eliminating weapons of mass destruction as well as civil missions against North Korea, he noted, without elaborating further. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the article says this will not impact the relocation of the 2ID to Camp Humphreys. However, I wonder how it is going to impact the residual combat power in Area 1 that has long been discussed.
South Korea rules out residual US force near DMZ after consolidation
http://www.stripes.com/news/south-korea-rules-out-residual-us-force-near-dmz-after-consolidation-1.301613
A lot of conflicting stories out there, best to just sit quietly and wait it out.
Thanks for the link. It will be interesting to see what USFK’s definition of “temporary” is.