Security official meets USFK chief Kim Hyun-chong (L), deputy chief of South Korea’s National Security Office, shakes hands with U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams during their breakfast meeting on Sept. 19, 2019, in this photo tweeted by Kim. They discussed the South Korea-U.S. alliance and issues of regional security, Kim said. (Yonhap)
Here is what General Abrams recently had to say about the readiness of US troops in South Korea:
Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, told a symposium audience in Honolulu, May 22, 2019, that the combined U.S.-South Korean military force has suffered no loss of readiness with the suspension of large-scale exercises last year.
Combined training and readiness have not flagged in South Korea despite suspension of large-scale exercises last year, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday. “I want to be crystal clear about it,” Gen. Robert Abrams said at the three-day Land Forces Pacific Symposium in Honolulu. “Combined training and readiness, it has hasn’t slowed down one bit. We are continuing to conduct very rigorous combined training at echelon, over 100 exercises thus far in 2019 alone. It happens at multiple levels.” Abrams fiercely defended the suspension of the large-scale exercises announced after President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore. “This was a prudent action in support of diplomacy,” he said during a keynote speech followed by a question-and-answer session for an audience of primarily soldiers from the U.S. and Pacific partner nations.
Here is what the USFK commander General Abrams recently had to say to Yonhap News after the end of the Dong Maeng exercise:
(…….) On Tuesday, Seoul and Washington wrapped up their new weeklong Dong Maeng command post exercise, which replaced the usually two-week Key Resolve drills. Dong Maeng is the Korean word for alliance. The allies introduced the exercise, seen as a truncated version of Key Resolve, to back diplomacy for lasting peace on the peninsula. But conservatives here voiced concerns that the smaller-scale exercise could harm military readiness when Pyongyang has yet to take any substantive steps toward denuclearization.
The hard-bitten commander, who has led the USFK, U.N. Command (UNC) and South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) since November, stressed that his troops “train at every level to develop mastery-level skills.”
“I have been doing this for 37 years … I consider myself an expert (at a) mastery level of operational art in training and readiness,” he said. “If I tell you that what we are doing is meeting the requirements for us to have a trained and ready force, you need to take that to the bank.” (………)
‘USFK presence has nothing to do with peace treaty’
The commander reiterated that the American troop presence in South Korea has nothing to do with any potential future peace treaty with North Korea.
Commenting on his recent controversial congressional remarks seen as signaling the possibility of the U.S. troop withdrawal — or drawdown — in the event that a peace treaty is signed with Pyongyang, Abrams said that it was “completely taken out of context.”
“That one sentence did not take into context the entire interchange I had with that particular senator,” he said. “Our troop presence is an alliance decision that has nothing to do with any potential future peace treaty.” In response to a senator’s question on Feb. 12, he said the 28,500-strong USFK will stay on the peninsula “until there is a peace treaty, because we still remain in a state of armistice, a cessation of hostilities.”
Yep…finally got to the tank bar, following some neighborhood New Years receptions. All I can say is pictures do not do it justice. Definitely getting one for the retirement hacienda. Thanks @PatDonahoeArmy for the hospitality. pic.twitter.com/A5I45FTQIT
Gen. Robert Abrams (R), the new commander of U.S. Forces Korea, shakes hands with retired Gen. Paik Sun-yup, a Korean War hero, during a ceremony at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul on Nov. 9, 2018, to open an exhibition celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Seoul-Washington alliance. (Yonhap)
I think it is arguable that USFK’s part in the US’s overall North Korea strategy is to do everything possible to not be the ones’ to blame if the current peace process falls apart because North Korea does not denuclearize. The Kim regime would need an excuse for reneging on giving up their nukes and claiming that USFK is training to destroy them is a good excuse. With that said they can just claim the US military presence in South Korea is enough to justify keeping their nukes as well:
General Robert Abrams, who is nominated to become the new commander of US Forces Korea.
Robert B. Abrams, a four-star US Army general who is nominated to become the next US Forces Korea (USFK) commander, stated that the suspension of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea has undermined combat readiness, and that an “atmosphere of detente” is being created on the Korean Peninsula.During a hearing to vet him for his new position at the Senate Armed Service Committee on Sept. 25, Abrams talked about the suspension of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian joint military exercises in the wake of the US-North Korea summit meeting on June 12. According to an AFP report, he said “I think the suspension of the exercise this past August and September, I would say was a prudent risk if we’re willing to make the effort to change the relationship with [North Korea].” [Hankyoreh]
I think these hearings should not provide any controversies though I would not be surprised if some members of Congress try to get him to say comments critical of the Trump administration’s North Korea policies:
General Robert B. Abrams
Washington is set to replace the commander of US forces in South Korea amid a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula, even as denuclearisation of the North stalls.
The US stations 28,500 troops in the South, a treaty ally, to defend it against its nuclear-armed neighbour, which invaded in 1950, triggering the Korean War.
General Robert B. Abrams, commander of the US Army Forces Command, will undergo a confirmation hearing next week to be head of US Forces Korea (USFK), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s website showed.
If his nomination is approved, he will succeed General Vincent Brooks as commander of USFK, the UN Command and the South Korea-US Combined Forces Korea, who has been in the post since April 2016. [Korea Times]
Here is who is reportedly replacing General Brooks as the next USFK commander:
Robert B. Abrams
The Donald Trump administration is expected to name Robert B. Abrams, a four-star Army general, as the new U.S. Forces Korea commander, according to a diplomatic source Wednesday.
Abrams will replace Gen. Vincent Brooks, who will leave his post as commander of United States Forces Korea (USFK) possibly as early as this summer. An official announcement naming Abrams, currently commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, as the new head of the USFK is expected to come at a later date, and the replacement is expected to take place in July or August.
The White House is also expected to soon officially name four-star Adm. Harry Harris, the outgoing chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, as ambassador to Seoul, a long-vacant position. A diplomatic source well informed on the matter told the JoongAng Ilbo, “The duo of Harris, a four-star Navy admiral, and Abrams, a four-star Army general, stand at the front line in the case of any problems arising amid the rapidly changing situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
Their appointments would complete the Trump administration’s reshuffling of the diplomatic and security lineup over the Korean Peninsula. Abrams, 57, is the son of a 1950-53 Korean War veteran, Gen. Creighton W. Abrams Jr., a former Army chief of staff and commander in Vietnam who is known for legendary exploits in World War II. His two brothers are also in the military.
Abrams was born in 1960 in Germany and has spent more than 30 years in active service. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, Abrams received a master of science degree from Central Michigan University and a master of strategic studies degree from the United States Army War College. He has led units in countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Abrams also previously served as a senior military assistant to the secretary of defense and a strategic war planner for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He became the 22nd chief of United States Army Forces Command in 2015, commanding some 229,000 active duty soldiers. The Army Forces Command includes some 776,000 soldiers and 96,000 civilians. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
