SEOUL– The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) resumed its educational program about the roles of its rear bases in Japan on Wednesday after a nearly three-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, its officials said.
The resumption came as South Korea and the United States are seeking to reinforce security coordination against North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, with both stressing the importance of trilateral cooperation with Japan in dealing with the recalcitrant regime.
An unspecified number of South Korean military officers joined the three-day UNC Rear Orientation during which they are set to tour multiple UNC Rear bases in Japan, according to the officials.
Gen. Paul LaCamera, who leads the UNC, the U.S. Forces Korea and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, also attended the session to brief the South Korean officers on the responsibilities of the UNC Rear.
“He emphasized the importance of coalition and logistical support in the defense of Republic of Korea,” the UNC wrote on Facebook.
“During the briefing, Gen. LaCamera quoted Churchill: There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them,” it added, referring to former wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The UNC Rear has seven bases across Japan, including Yokota Air Base and Yokosuka Naval Base — both near Tokyo — and Kadena Air Base and Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in Okinawa.
Those bases are designed to provide logistical and other forms of support in the event of a contingency on the Korean Peninsula.
Source: Yonhap News Agency