美 태평양육군사령관 “한·미 연합훈련, 연대급 이상은 한반도 밖에서 한다” VIDEO: S. Korea, U.S. continue 'higher-level' exercises off peninsula: U.S. general
S. Korea, U.S. continue 'higher-level' exercises off peninsula: U.S. general
All Headlines 11:01 November 27, 2018
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States have been conducting "higher-level" military exercises off the Korean Peninsula despite the suspension of key allied drills that stoked fears of laxity in their combat readiness, a top U.S. general said in a recent media interview.
Gen. Robert Brown, the head of U.S. Army Pacific Command, made the remarks as the two militaries have been exploring ways to back ongoing diplomacy to denuclearize North Korea and establish a lasting peace on the divided peninsula.
Gen. Robert Brown/militarytimes.com
美 태평양육군사령관 “한·미 연합훈련, 연대급 이상은 한반도 밖에서 한다” 로버트 브라운 대장, 대대급 이하 훈련은 한반도에서 "훈련 안하는 것보단 나아" 로버트 브라운<사진> 미국 태평양육군사령관은 26일(현지 시각) 한·미 연합군사훈련 축소와 관련해 "대대급 이하 훈련은 한반도에서 하고 있지만 그보다 높은 단위의 훈련은 한반도 밖에서 하고 있다"고 밝혔다. 그는 한국에서 연합 훈련을 할 때만큼 효율적이지는 않지만 훈련을 전혀 하지 않는 것보다는 낫다고 설명했다. 브라운 사령관은 이날 공개된 미 군사전문매체 ‘디펜스 뉴스’와의 인터뷰에서 ‘한·미 연합군사훈련 축소가 군사 준비 태세에 미치는 영향을 육군이 어떻게 상쇄하고 있는가’라는 질문에 "연합 훈련 진행 방식에 일부 변화가 있다"며 이렇게 말했다. 그는 "한반도에서 대대급과 그보다 낮은 수준의 훈련은 그런 작은 단위 수준에서 아주 잘 되고 있지만, 그보다 높은 수준의 상위 훈련은 한반도 밖에서 하고 있다"며 "하와이와 루이스 매코드 기지, 워싱턴주에서 최근 훈련을 했으며, 알래스카에서도 일부 시나리오를 놓고 훈련을 했다"고 했다. 그는 한국군도 초청해 훈련을 진행했다고 밝혔다. 그러나 그는 한국군 참여와 관련해 "물론 많은 병력이 올 수 있는 것은 아니고 한국에서 연합 훈련을 할 때만큼 좋지는 않다"면서도 "그래도 아예 훈련을 하지 않는 것보다는 확실히 낫다"고 했다. 680news.com edited by kcontents 브라운 사령관은 연합 군사 훈련의 중요성도 거듭 강조했다. 그는 "연합 훈련은 매우 매우 중요하며, 함께 협력할 때 평화 유지에 정말 도움이 된다"며 "상대가 볼 때 진정한 억지력으로 작용한다"고 했다. 그러면서 그는 한·미 연합 훈련이 북한이 비핵화 협상 테이블에 나오는 데도 큰 역할을 했다고 했다. 그는 "북한이 (한국과 미국의) 가까운 관계를 보고 ‘우리가 질 게 뻔한데 왜 우리가 저들과 싸워야겠나’라고 깨달았을 것"이라고 했다. 미 태평양육군사령부에는 주일 미 육군과 하와이 25 보병사단, 주알래스카 육군 등이 소속돼 있다. 박수현 기자 조선일보 출처 : http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/11/27/2018112700638.html |
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"What we're doing is we're continuing to do higher level (exercises) ... Battalion and below exercises on the peninsula is fine. And that's working very well at that small unit level. And then above that, we're doing the higher-level exercises off the peninsula," Brown told Defense News, a U.S. media outlet.
"We just did some in Hawaii, (at) Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Washington state. Even (in) Alaska we worked some scenarios, and we invite the ROKs to that. Obviously, not as many can come," he added, referring to the acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Most recently, Seoul and Washington decided to suspend the Vigilant Ace air exercise which was originally scheduled for December as part of efforts to continue dialogue with Pyongyang and keep it on a denuclearization track.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has also mentioned that the springtime Foal Eagle exercise with the South will be "reduced in scope" and that it is being "reorganized a bit" to keep it at a level that will not harm diplomacy.
Earlier this year, the allies also called off a series of exercises such as the summertime Ulchi Freedom Guardian -- a decision that sparked concerns that their defense posture could weaken when the North had yet to take tangible steps toward nuclear disarmament.
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During the interview, Brown stressed the importance of exercises.
"If you don't exercise, it's kind of like preparing a team to go to the Super Bowl and you never practice or you never play a game. That wouldn't be very good," he said. "You want to play against the best competition. You want to work together so you're a well-organized, well-knit, close-cut team, and that's what we need."
But he assured that the long-standing alliance between Seoul and Washington remains firm.
"I have never seen in my 30-plus years working with [South] Korea, with the ROK, I've never seen the alliance more rock solid because when you get these challenges, it causes you to get closer together. And so it's a rock solid alliance," he said.
Meanwhile, Gen. Charles Brown, head of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, told reporters Monday that U.S. bombers are no longer conducting flights over South Korea as Seoul asked for the pause of such missions to support diplomatic efforts, according to AFP.
"As we're going through the diplomatic aspect, we don't want to actually do something that's going to derail the diplomatic negotiations," Brown was quoted by AFP as saying. "So that's part of the reason why we're not doing (flights) over Korea."
The U.S. has routinely carried out flight missions over the region as part of training sessions or to show its military might against the North and other potential challengers.
This image, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows South Korean and U.S. troops in a combined exercise. (Yonhap)
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181127003000315?section=news
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