US, S. Korea to Write New War Plan to Counter N. Korean Nukes, Missiles
During visit, defense chiefs also expected to announce Seoul will test for long-awaited operational control of joint forces in 2022.
By Tara Copp
Senior Pentagon Reporter, Defense One
November 30, 2021 10:39 PM ET
ONBOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT—The U.S. and the Republic of Korea are expected to announce this week they will begin writing a new war plan for North Korea that takes into account Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile launch advances, two U.S. senior defense officials said Tuesday.
At their annual Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul on Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Republic of Korea Defense Minister Suh Wook will announce new strategic planning guidance “to start the process of developing a new operational war plan,” said one of the officials, who briefed reporters traveling with Austin to Seoul.
“The DPRK has advanced its capabilities. The strategic environment has changed over the past few years,” the official said. “It’s appropriate and necessary that we have an OPLAN that is updated.”
The officials noted that the current war plan for North Korea is around 10 years old. While the upcoming revision was not prompted by any immediate threat, “we have seen, certainly, advances in North Korean capabilities, particularly with respect to missile delivery capability. That is one set of issues that a new OPLAN would need to address,” the first official said.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/11/breaking-us-south-korea-write-new-war-plan-counter-north-korea-nukes-missiles/187182/
