Joint drills involving U.S. gunship aimed at ensuring 'ironclad' commitment: U.S. special operations commander

By Lee Minji

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, June 24 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. special operations commander in South Korea on Monday underscored the importance of routine training between the allies as he said a recent combined air exercise involving the U.S. AC-130J is an example of such efforts for their "ironclad" security commitment.

In what marked the key U.S. gunship's second-ever deployment to South Korea, the allies staged a four-day exercise last week, involving the AC-130J aircraft and various South Korean fighter jets, including F-15Ks and KF-16s, according to the South's Air Force.

The AC-130J, a heavily armed, long-endurance, ground-attack plane, was last deployed to South Korea in February last year.

The exercise featuring the key U.S. military asset, which the U.S. Forces Korea has dubbed as "one of the most requested aircraft by ground forces," came in the wake of heightened concerns over deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia following a summit of their leaders in Pyongyang last week.

"We've not forgotten our commitment to the ironclad alliance to defend our homelands, a commitment born out of the blood and 70 years of working together to ensure a safe and peaceful peninsula," Brig. Gen. Derek Lipson, commander of the Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR), told a press conference held at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul.

"Every day of the year, we work, train, and call the Korean Peninsula home with our ROK special operations counterparts. So when we say the training from the past few weeks with the AC-130J and its crews, Navy Seals and our tactical air control party personnel is routine, it is routine," Lipson said, referring to South Korea by its formal name of the Republic of Korea.

Lipson played down views that the latest drills were conducted at a time when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for talks that culminated in one of their strongest pacts since the end of the Cold War era.

"The timing is coincidental to anything going on on the peninsula," he said.

The SOCKOR commander instead emphasized that the recent exercise was more aimed at sharpening readiness through coordination efforts.

"So the readiness goes up and down. But we have to maintain it at a certain level and in order to do that we have to have routine training opportunities, that's what we've built here this year," Lipson said.

On whether such routine training opportunities would be open to other countries, Lipson said "any ally, partner and friend" will be welcomed to come train on the Korean Peninsula to build readiness in the event they would be required to fight together.

As part of joint efforts to deter evolving North Korean threats, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are expected to hold their first-ever trilateral multidomain exercise, dubbed the Freedom Edge, across various domains, including air, maritime, underwater and cyber, this week.

On Saturday, the nuclear-powered USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) arrived at a naval port in the southeastern city of Busan, in a show of force against evolving North Korean threats ahead of the exercise.

Maj. Josh Burris of the 4th Special Operations Squadron, who also attended the press conference, said the AC-130J is set to depart later this week after accomplishing "additional training events," without elaborating.

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