Agence France-Presse,
Seoul: US and South Korean troops will test a new plan this summer to defeat any invasion by North Korea, officials said Wednesday.
The two countries will complete work on the plan by July to reflect the change in their alliance, South Korean Brigadier-General Chun In-Bum told reporters.
“The new joint operation plan will be applied for the first time in August” during an annual joint military exercise, he said.
It will allow South Korea to prepare for a leading role in tackling any threats from the North, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
US troops have been stationed in South Korea since the 1950-53 war, with 28,500 currently deployed.
The South's military still comes under US command in case of war but in 2012 it will adopt the lead defence role, with US forces in support.
The August exercise, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, “will allow us to transition to operating from separate headquarters as US forces support the defence of (South) Korea,” the US local military chief, General Walter Sharp, said this week.
South Korean troops in recent years have taken over from US forces along the front line with the North, the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone. US forces are set to pull out of their main base in Seoul to a new one further south.
North Korea bitterly denounces the joint military exercises as a preparation for an attack on it.
