Key facts
- US Eighth Army commander in South Korea Lieutenant General Joe Hilbert said troops must be ready for missions beyond the peninsula.
- Hilbert stated that focusing solely on threats on the peninsula would be irresponsible.
- He noted that the Eighth Army's location does not limit the range of possible operations.
Lieutenant General Joe Hilbert, commander of the US Eighth Army in South Korea, stated that his troops must be prepared for deployments outside the Korean peninsula if ordered. He argued that it would be "irresponsible" to focus "myopically" on threats within South Korea.
Hilbert emphasized that while his command's primary focus is on fulfilling US commitments under the mutual defense treaty with Seoul, the Eighth Army's location does not restrict the scope of its potential missions. He described the Eighth Army as part of the US global forces, trained to deploy wherever national command requires, citing participation in multinational exercises in the Asia-Pacific region as an example.
He added that military readiness is largely independent of a specific threat, and prepared forces can carry out assigned tasks against any adversary. US service members train daily alongside South Korean allies with the primary threat in mind, while remaining ready for other national needs.