Force Restructuring in the ROK-US Military Alliance

North Korea's military has evolved to the point where despite significant resource constraints it can still threaten the stability and security of South Korea with little or no warning. And to downplay this threat is both a poor conduct of military analysis and dangerous to the national security of South Korea.

That's according to Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. in his article Force Restructuring in the ROK-US Military Alliance: Challenges and Implications (September 2006).

Bechtol argued that while the flexibility and professionalism of both the South Korea and American military forces is beyond question, evolving from a combined fighting force as they are now to two separate military commands will be problematic.

Outlining the two very important challenges that the South Korea military faces, Bechtol pointed to the areas of finance and transformation.

To begin with, the Roh Moo-hyun government has announced that its goal is to achieve "self reliant defence." This, according to Bechtol, is "certainly a lofty and expensive goal when one notes that the enemy his nation faces has the fifth largest military in the world, a growing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons capability, and an ongoing foreign policy of belligerence with its neighbors."

The goal is an expensive one considering that the target date for the spending 3% of the national budget on the military is 2015. And since 2015 is still a long way off, it is doubtful if the Seoul government will be able to pay for the increase in military expenditure. After all, the budget is likely to change from year to year and president to president, depending on the foreign policy agenda of each administration.

As for military transformation, Bechtol argued that in order to truly transform, the South Korean military must now assume what he called extremely important missions. But more important, they must adapt their capabilities in order to reach the capability held by the US forces. And two of important capabilities that the US currently bring to the Korean Peninsula are airpower and C41 (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence).

"It is important to note, that as things stand right now, South Korea is almost entirely dependent on the US for strategic level information, and there are currently no plans to significantly upgrade systems or sensors owned or scheduled to be acquired by the South Korean government that will meet or even come significantly close to the capability."

"There is another very important capability that is lacking even more so - the lift of South Korea's elite special forces and airborne brigades. This is yet another example of a capability that is vital but to date remains a void filled by US forces."

Furthermore, the South Korean navy is also lacking in its capability to provide its own Marine Corps the lift to conduct large-scale amphibious operations. And to be truly reliant, Bechtol argued that the military also needs a capable anti-missile defence capable of shooting down the more than 600 short-range ballistic missiles that North Korea currently has deployed and pointed at targets throughout South Korea.