U.S., South Korea Enhance CBRN Response Preparedness

The ties that bind ally nations together must often transcend geographical and demographical obstacles such as distance, culture, ethnicity and language.

Joint Task Force Civil Support, the only standing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear U.S. task force, is demonstrating how those obstacles can be overcome by collaborating with the South Korean consequence management unit to enhance each other's CBRN response capabilities through subject matter expertise, coordination, planning support and structured engagement.

The task force hosted a delegation from the South Korea Ministry of National Defense at command headquarters on Fort Eustis, Virginia, Sept. 3, where experts from partner nations discussed the importance of having a South Korean CBRN consequence management unit and the ramifications of a lack thereof.

"Having the [South Korean] consequence management team at JTF CS just shows both the [South Korean] and U.S. continued commitment to response preparedness," said Marine Corps Col. Thaddeus Drake, task force deputy commander. "Saving lives and preventing suffering is our shared focus, and strengthening ties between these two commands can only make us better and more prepared to respond should we ever be needed."

Background

From 2011 to 2016, South Korea and the U.S. held exercise Able Response, bio-defense training, at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul, South Korea, which led to the birth of the Global Health Security Agenda. Thanks to the exercise, South Korea overcame the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome crisis, and with the help of the GHSA overcame COVID-19.

In 2024, the South Korea Ministry of National Defense formally requested assistance from the War Department in developing a consequence management group for weapons of mass destruction and sought out JTF CS as the primary U.S. partner to support consequence management capability development.

South Korean Col. Sangmin Lee, research project director at the Future Strategy Office, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, led "Pathways to ROK - U.S. Joint Consequence Management Cooperation," a study that concluded postnuclear management is necessary from the perspective of a South Korea-U.S. alliance because, "28,500 U.S. troops are stationed on the Korean Peninsula, and hundreds of thousands of American citizens live there. Furthermore, if a nuclear accident occurs in the region, U.S. troops stationed in Japan, or American citizens living in Japan, may also suffer from radioactive contamination."

The study assessed that protection is just as important as consequence management in response to nuclear disasters, and that developing both is necessary to find balance.

According to Lee, the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan, and the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, in the then-Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, now Ukraine, demonstrated how atmospheric and oceanic conditions shape the spread of contamination. Radioactive materials from Fukushima were dispersed into the Pacific Ocean toward Japan, and the fallout from Chernobyl caused more damage to the neighboring country of Belarus than it did to the Soviet Union.

The Korean Peninsula borders China to the west and is one of the most densely concentrated regions of nuclear power plants. Most are concentrated along its eastern and southern coasts, and China has been expanding the development of mobile offshore plants. If a nuclear accident were to occur in the Yellow Sea, major U.S. bases in South Korea and Japan could face direct and critical damage.

"Prevailing westerly winds and ocean currents could carry radioactive contaminants toward the Korean Peninsula," Lee said. "This could devastate fisheries and agriculture, and in the worst-case scenario, render much of the peninsula, and possibly Japan, uninhabitable for decades."

Objectives

U.S. Northern Command, through the joint task force, supports the South Korea Ministry of National Defense efforts to establish a national-level consequence management capability by providing subject matter expertise, coordination, planning support and structured engagement in alignment with Northcom and the Office of the Secretary of War strategic guidance.

The desired end-state is a sustained and collaborative partnership with the South Korea CBRN Defense Command, resulting in a fully capable and operational consequence management unit that can effectively respond to CBRN incidents, minimizing impact on civilians and ensuring conditions for allied military operations. This involves government-scale activities for the preservation of national facilities and functionality.

"Nuclear attacks, nuclear terrorism and nuclear accidents are large-scale national disasters," Lee said. "Yet, they tend to manifest in a 'gray zone' where clear lines of responsibility among authorities are blurred. This ambiguity risks losing the golden time [the first 24-48 hours after an incident] required for effective initial response. We want to learn from you."

To that end, the task force serves as the CBRN Defense Command's designated U.S. partner for consequence management cooperation, sharing information on unit structure, military-civil coordination, planning, operations, and training models, facilitating subject matter expert exchanges, virtual coordination, supporting South Korean-based training activities and conducting key leader engagements with CBRN Defense Command.

Alliance and Strategic Alignment

The Sept. 3 meeting provided JTF CS with a unique opportunity to engage with South Korean experts on nuclear consequence management and establish a shared understanding of the importance of collaboration and the mutual benefits it provides.

The South Korea delegation entered the meeting with a list of questions that task force leaders and staff addressed in detail. Discussions included the primary responsibilities in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster; how critical decisions were made and the resources deployed during the initial response phase; the priorities and operational protocols for managing challenges such as radioactive fallout, environmental contamination, mass evacuation and infrastructure disruption; technologies, equipment and training used to assess damage and support recovery; how JTF CS coordinates with other military branches, specialized forces and civilian agencies; and, in mass casualty scenarios resulting from a nuclear event, how the task force supports civilian medical infrastructure.

Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Jung, JTF CS CBRN planner, serves as the action officer for the U.S.-South Korean partnership, coordinating and developing meaningful engagements that benefit both organizations.

Jung cited that, as a critical element of the Indo-Pacific strategy, this collaboration promotes stability and reinforces U.S. leadership in addressing global security challenges. By preparing for nuclear incidents, he claimed, the alliance builds public confidence, deters adversaries and safeguards lives and infrastructure, making it a cornerstone of both regional and U.S. security interests.

"The U.S.-[South Korea] partnership for nuclear consequence management is vital to national security, particularly in addressing the North Korean threat," Jung said. "North Korea's nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and suspected chemical and biological capabilities pose significant risks to the region, including the safety of 170,000 U.S. citizens, among them 28,000 U.S. service members stationed in South Korea."

Value of Partnership

Brig. Gen. Jaehoon Yoo, South Korean army CBRN school commandant, expressed his gratitude to the task force and articulated the importance of cooperation between the two nations.

"[T]he military situation and background is different between [South Korea] and U.S.," Yoo said. "While there is such a difference, I would like to point out that we also have similarities in that we wish to protect the citizens of our respective countries and reduce damages and casualties as much as possible."

"We are currently in the initial stages of launching our own nuclear consequence management program and hoped this gathering would help us while we consider the factors needed to establish our program, [and] that it is not just a combined effort of both our countries, but that it could expand to combined efforts with our other allies," he added.

Mike Balser, JTF CS chief of staff, was impressed by the deliberate way South Korea is developing their requirements for catastrophic response operations.

"The way you are approaching this problem is inspiring," Balser told the delegation. "This is the way we have chosen to do it, but it may not work for everyone. The abilities of this group - their foresight, curiosity, intellect - simply shows that South Korea will have the very best response program."

The meeting of the two delegations wasn't the first, and it certainly won't be the last.

Balser pledged, "If we haven't answered all your questions to your satisfaction, we will keep at it until we do."