Miscalculation by North Korea’s leaders could quickly escalate into a global problem, the general in charge of U.S. Forces Korea warned.
“Such a conflict could immediately become a regional conflict and have a global impact, just as Russia’s war against Ukraine has,” Gen. Paul LaCamera said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
Among the U.S. military installations in the Republic of Korea, one stands out.
The deterrence record on North Korea is spotty, warns Duyeon Kim of the Center for a New American Security.
Retired Col. Ralph Puckett, a legendary Army Ranger highly decorated for valor in Korea and Vietnam, will receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in November 1950 during the Korean War.
President Joe Biden called Puckett, 94, on April 30 to inform him that he would receive the nation’s highest award for valor, The Washington Postreported. The award would make Puckett one of the most highly decorated soldiers in U.S. history.
U.S. forces in Korea have faced a changing and challenging training environment but remain ready to maintain peace and security on the peninsula, Gen. Robert Abrams told the House Armed Services Committee.
Testifying March 10, the commander of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea said North Korea “continues to pose a threat to the international security environment with no indication that they have ceased development of nuclear capabilities.”
North Korea remains a major national security challenge, Pentagon officials told Congress.
Testifying Jan. 28 before the House Armed Services Committee, John Rood, DoD’s undersecretary for policy, said North Korea “poses an ongoing, credible threat to the United States homeland, our allies in South Korea and Japan, in addition to undermining international arms control regimes and engaging in egregious human rights violations and abuses.”
“Predicting North Korea’s future behavior is always hazardous,” Rood said.
The end of high-profile U.S. and South Korean training exercises has not diminished warfighting capabilities, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford.
“I am very confident today that we have not compromised the readiness of the alliance to go to war, should that be required,” Dunford said May 29 at a Brookings Institution event in Washington, D.C.
The alliance between the U.S. and South Korea “is stronger and more ready than ever,” the top U.S. general in the Republic of Korea said May 22.
Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army’s LANPAC Symposium and Exposition in Honolulu, Gen. Robert B. Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea and U.N. Command-Combined Forces Command, said the 65-year-old alliance between the U.S. and South Korea remains critical for economic and security reasons.
Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, relinquishes command on Nov. 8, wrapping up a 38-year career in the Army marked by trailblazing accomplishments and operational leadership.
Brooks, who has been in command for two years, will hand over the reins of the joint force of about 28,000 troops to Gen. Robert B. Abrams, former commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command.
The nominee to become the top U.S. commander in Korea said the evacuation of civilians from the Korean Peninsula presents “a wicked problem,” but he is confident twice-a-year drills have prepared the U.S. military for the problem it faces.
He also stressed that the risk to civilians isn’t limited to the families of U.S. troops but threatens a wide population.
