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U.S. military WMD response team conducts first-ever exercise in Korea

Published: 23 Apr. 2025, 13:55 Updated: 23 Apr. 2025, 19:41

A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter takes off from Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, during the joint Korea-U.S. Freedom Shield military exercise on March 10. [YONHAP]

A U.S. military unit specializing in nuclear and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) response has conducted its first-ever training session in Korea to prepare for potential nuclear attack scenarios, according to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) on Wednesday.

The U.S. Army Nuclear and Countering WMD Agency (Usanca) held the exercise on April 15 and 16 at the Republic of Korea Strategic Command. The session was attended by Korean and U.S. military personnel and focused on building the knowledge and skills necessary for operating in environments where nuclear weapons have been used or are at risk of being used.

Specific details of the training were not disclosed. However, it reportedly covered education and instruction for conducting military operations in nuclear threat scenarios.

Participants included two instructors from Usacna’s Nuclear Operations Advisory Group, six personnel from the Korean Strategic Command, two from the Ministry of National Defense, and five from the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

The session also included discussions on the role of the Korean military in Conventional-Nuclear Integration (CNI) operations — a concept that seeks to integrate U.S. nuclear capabilities with Korea’s advanced conventional forces.

“The contents of this training are directly applicable to tabletop exercises (TTX) and war games focused on the CNI concept,” said USFK.

CNI remains an evolving framework without a fully defined operational concept on the Korean Peninsula, but a clear operational concept on how to implement it on the Korean Peninsula has not yet been established.

Korea and the U.S. plan to continue tabletop exercises to refine and develop the concept into formal operational plans.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]