The Marmot’s Hole

It’s Armed Forces Day today, and while the ROK Armed Forces celebrates its 59th anniversary, it faces one of its biggest challenges, the transfer of wartime operational command from the USFK.  There was controversy last year when Pres. Roh fired off the first rounds.  Since then, both sides have agreed on a 2012 deadline for the transfer and with 5 years remaining, one question comes into mind; What is the ROK’s progress so far? 

Well, according to recent milestones, it seems that Korea is on its way to taking wartime operational command on 2012;

• Installation of the C4I system for the ROK Army’s 5th Corps was completed on June 2006 , six years after the ROKA initiated the project.   The ROK Army’s 6th Corps got theirs on May 2007.  The system links the Corps HQ with Division and Regiment HQs.  The ROK Army plans to complete installation of the C4I system for all frontline units, including the 1st and 3rd Corps by 2008.  The total cost could reach $264 million.
• First phase of the ROK Navy C4I completed on August of this year, two years after project start.  The system links the 2nd Fleet in Pyongtaek with the Operations Command in Jinhae.  Cost of the first phase : US $29 million.  The 2nd phase is scheduled to begin at the 4th quarter of 2007 and is estimated to cost US$68 million.
•  Installation of the ROKAF C4I completed on May 2007, three years after start of the project.  The system links the Operations Command with all ROKAF units and cost US$60 million.  ROKAF is also constructing the 2nd Master Control and Reporting Center(MCRC) which will have Link-16 datalinks to better control its units and assets.
• The ROK JCS plans to integrate each of the Armed Forces C4I systems into a single C4I system called the Korea Joint Command and Control System(KJCCS) by 2009 and have it operational on 2010.  The ROK military is also expected to start using the joint civilian and military Mugunghwa 5 satellite for communications between its units and headquarters around the end of 2007.  There is also the possibility that the ROK military will use civilian Arirang 3(optical camera with 70cm resolution), 3A(infrared camera), and 5(radar) satellites for intelligence gathering purposes.

Put it simply, in terms of hardware necessary for wartime operational command, the ROK is putting its money where its mouth is, and so far making steady progress.  However, installation of C4I hardware does not mean that everything is complete.  The ROK military has to work out the bugs, train its personnel on how to use the system, integrate it into its daily operations, and work with the USFK on procedures regarding the roles and responsibilities of the USFK and ROK Armed Forces commands during wartime. 

There is also an interesting point in that the C4I projects were in the planning stages and being executed way before Roh’s declaration, which means that Roh was probably not BSing when he declared that Korea could take wartime command of its troops(Roh not BSing, now there’s an interesting thought).  Not that his delivery and timing was brilliant.  Also we can understand why the US was pushing for the 2009 handover since the Korean C4I systems would have been in place by that time.  However considering the fact that the ROK military would need time to flesh everything out, 2012 seems to be a more realistic target.