SEOUL, South Korea — Gen. Vincent Brooks warned of rising challenges as he took the helm of U.S. Forces in Korea on Saturday, while North Korea reportedly called joint military exercises in the South “tantamount to an open declaration of war.”
In a ceremony at U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan’s Knight Field, Brooks took over from Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who will become the next commander of U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander for NATO forces.
The change of command came as the U.S. and its ally South Korea face unprecedented threats from the North, which staged its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch that prompted harsh new U.N. sanctions.
Pyongyang has escalated its weapons program with a series of missile tests, which are forbidden under Security Council resolutions. In the past two weeks, the North reportedly failed in efforts to launch three powerful mid-range missiles, but successfully fired a projectile from a submarine.
South Korea’s military also has been on high alert amid fears the North plans another nuclear test as leader Kim Jong Un seeks a show of force ahead of a ruling Workers’ Party congress next Friday.
“In the present day, the challenges continue to rise but so also do the strength of the alliance and the resolve of the United Nations,” said Brooks, who also will be in charge of the U.N. Command and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and will oversee the consolidation of most U.S. forces at regional hubs south of Seoul.
About 28,500 U.S. servicemembers are stationed in South Korea, and the allies maintain close ties and regularly conduct joint training. The divided peninsula technically remains in a state of war after the 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce instead a peace treaty.
Underscoring the tensions, the North’s state-run…
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