Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson nominated to lead South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command

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Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson nominated to lead South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command

Published: 12 Sep. 2024, 19:34

MICHAEL LEE
lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr

Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Army's I Corps [U.S. ARMY]

U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of the U.S. Army's I Corps, to lead the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), the Pentagon said Wednesday.

If confirmed, Brunson would replace Gen. Paul LaCamera who has led the CFC, United Nations Command (UNC) and United States Forces Korea (USFK) since July 2021.

Brunson’s Senate confirmation hearing is slated for Tuesday next week.

The top U.S. general in South Korea leads all three commands, including the 28,500-strong USFK.

Brunson’s nomination comes as Seoul and Washington have stepped up cooperation to sharpen their joint deterrence against North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.

Over the past year, Pyongyang has shunned dialogue with Seoul and deepened its military cooperation with Moscow.

Brunson is the current commander of the I Corps, which is the U.S. Army’s operational headquarters for the Indo-Pacific. The I Corps manages the daily activities of more than 40,000 service members across the Indo-Pacific, including personnel stationed in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, according to the Army.

Brunson has served in various key positions in both conventional and special operations forces, according to the U.S. Army. He has been deployed in the past to Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was commissioned as an infantry officer upon graduation from Hampton University with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

He later earned a master’s degree in human resource development from Webster University and another master’s degree in national security strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Yonhap