27 August 2001
US Takes on Invader Role in War Games
By Christopher Torchia,
Associated Press Writer

Some 10,000 American troops are taking part in an annual joint exercise that has drawn verbal attacks from the communist North since it was first launched in 1976.

This year was no exception, with North Korea accusing the United States of "a mock 'cyber warfare' drill" to hone its skills at spreading computer viruses and hacking into computer networks.

The 12-day maneuvers, called "Ulchi Focus Lens," end Friday. They are among the U.S. military's most advanced war games involving computer simulation.

"It's kind of like a laboratory experiment" for war, said 2nd Lt. Stephen Koch of Kansas City, Kan. a computer operator at the main U.S. military base in Seoul.

Koch and other soldiers in the "Combined Battle Simulation Center" spend 12 to 14 hours a day dispatching messages to unit commanders, monitoring their electronic responses and poring over map coordinates.

In one computer scenario, the crew of a U.S. Navy ship plots how to ferry supplies northward. In another, soldiers on the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas prepare to confront tanks and troops rushing southward.

At Camp Casey, a U.S. base north of Seoul, 200 computer operators act as the invaders, punching in messages about the deployment of their fictional troops. They work with a battle plan that is partly independent from that of the defenders, allowing for more spontaneity in the outcome.

The United States keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Computer simulated war games are cheaper and more efficient than old-style exercises involving masses of troops, said Capt. John Neal, 27, of Murfreesboro, Tenn.

"You would literally be sending divisions of troops into the field," he said. "It would cost a great deal of money. It would also disrupt the countryside and the activities of the populace."

In 1994, the U.S. and South Korean armed forces canceled an annual exercise called "Team Spirit" in an effort to resolve a standoff over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons program.

The biggest maneuver, "Foal Eagle," has been held since 1961. Tens of thousands of troops take part.

North Korea has more than 1 million troops, but is believed to be short of training because of a lack of fuel and modern equipment. Still, Seoul lies within the range of the North's huge arsenal of artillery on the border.

"North Korea and South Korea have been preparing for war since the (1953) cease-fire," Lt. Koch said. "It's just an amazing amount of guns pointing at each other."