Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, director of operations for United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, takes part in Freedom Shield 25 on March 14, 2025, at CP TANGO, in this photo provided by his office. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 18 (Korea Bizwire) — A general supervising operations of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has pledged to maintain a “strong, forward-deployed force” in South Korea in a bid to ensure its security commitment in the face of North Korea’s military threats.
Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, director of operations for United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and USFK, made the remarks in a written interview with Yonhap News Agency, as the allies are conducting their annual springtime Freedom Shield exercise.
This year’s joint military drills came amid concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump may demand South Korea further shoulder the cost of the upkeep of the 28,500-strong USFK or reconsider the role of U.S. troops in South Korea.
“Our focus remains on maintaining a strong, forward-deployed force that ensures deterrence and regional stability,” Taylor said, when asked about concerns over the Trump administration possibly demanding a hike in Seoul’s share in the defense-cost sharing deal or even reducing U.S. troops or withdrawing.
Taylor redirected details of the Special Measures Agreement, a five-year defense cost-sharing deal updated in October last year under the previous Biden administration, as a matter belonging to government-to-government level talks but stressed that the ongoing joint drills are a demonstration of the United States’ “ironclad” commitment.
Since Trump’s return to the White House in January, concerns are growing here that the Seoul-Washington alliance is likely to be put to the test due to his “transactional” approach to alliances.
On March 10, the allies launched this year’s Freedom Shield exercise — the first major combined military exercise held since the beginning of Trump’s second term — for an 11-day run, incorporating more on-field drills and expanded cyber operations training compared with the previous year.
“It demonstrates our ironclad commitment to the Alliance and regional stability. Our focus remains on deterrence, maintaining readiness and ensuring the defense of both our homelands,” Taylor said.
Against such a backdrop, the U.S. general flatly rejected North Korea’s claims that the annual exercise is a “nuclear war” exercise that aggravates the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.
North Korea has long used the joint drills as a pretext for its own military provocations. Last week, the North conducted a missile launch believed to have involved multiple close-range ballistic missiles in yet another weapons test.
“Freedom Shield 25 (FS25) is not a ‘nuclear war exercise’ nor is it based on any preemptive strike scenario,” Taylor said.
He dismissed the North’s claim that the exercise applies OPLAN 2022, which Pyongyang argues is aimed at preemptively targeting nuclear weapons facilities in the North, as “misinformation.”
“DPRK’s claims about our OPLAN are misinformation aimed at justifying their own aggressive posture,” the U.S. general said, referring to the North by the acronym of its official name.
“Any claims that FS25 aggravates the security situation ignore the real destabilizing actions — which include the DPRK’s ballistic missile launches, and refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue.”
Meanwhile, Taylor reaffirmed the two countries remain committed to efforts for the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul.
Earlier this month, Elbridge Colby, the nominee to be the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for policy, voiced support for bolstering South Korea’s role in the alliance as he addressed a question over the OPCON transfer in written remarks for a Senate confirmation hearing.
“The Alliance remains committed to ensuring that conditions for OPCON transition are met, including the ability to respond to DPRK threats and maintain regional security,” Taylor said.
South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. Wartime operational control still remains in U.S. hands, while South Korea retook peacetime OPCON in 1994.
Taylor also vowed to continue trilateral security cooperation with Japan.
“The ROK-U.S. Alliance remains strong in deterring any threats, and we will continue to work with our partners, including Japan, to strengthen trilateral security cooperation,” he said.
The three countries have recently stepped up security cooperation through combined drills in the face of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
(Yonhap)
