Page 156 - 2018 Defense White Paper

conduct R&D for force support systems and act as the point of contact between the military and

industrial, academic, and research institutions. The MND will annually increase the number of
specialist personnel working at the center and utilize the center as a truly specialized institution
for force support system research.

| Strengthening International Logistics Cooperation | The MND continues to pursue
international logistics cooperation with partners and allies to improve war sustainment

capabilities and properly prepare for unforeseen threats.
Logistics cooperation with the United States,
the ROK’s ally, has continued in forms of regular

meetings of bilateral consultative bodies; various
bilateral and multilateral conferences; cooperation
on wartime reinforcement support plans; and mutual
logistics support during combined training. The

“Umbrella Agreement between the ROK and U.S. The 49 meeting of the ROK-U.S. Logistics
th
concerning Wartime Host Nation Support (WHNS Cooperation Committee (July 2017)

UA)” signed in 1991 is designed to support the rapid
deployment of U.S. forces in the Korean Peninsula, with plans to assist U.S. reinforcements in
12 areas including engineering, maintenance, and supply in wartime. The ROK–U.S. WHNS
Combined Steering Committee was held in Seoul in September 2016, and agreed on specif ic

support plans for 11 of the 12 WHNS areas including transportation, petroleum, and supply.
The committee concurred that the two countries would continue cooperation. The ROK–U.S.
Logistics Cooperation Committee, a subcommittee of the ROK–U.S. Security Consultative

Meeting (SCM), met in Seoul in July 2017, and in Washington D.C. in July 2018, and discussed
the creation of a working-level consultative group for total life cycle management, explosives
safety assessment, and cooperation in the f ield of ammunition. The committee agreed on future

bilateral cooperation regarding individual combat systems, and it is expected to signif icantly
contribute to the advancement of the individual soldier systems of the ROK Armed Forces.
Logistics cooperation with partner countries, including Thailand, New Zealand, Turkey, the

Philippines, Israel, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, is based on a mutual logistics
support agreement. With certain partners, including Australia and Israel, the ROK has formed
consultative groups that meet regularly, and has increased cooperation in areas of mutual

154 Chapter 4 Building Elite Armed Forces Using Advanced Technology