South Korea, US deploy 4,400 troops in largest-ever combined logistics exercise

South Korea and the United States launched their largest-ever combined logistics support exercise, deploying more than 4,400 troops and over 600 pieces of equipment to test wartime sustainment capabilities and interoperability.

The Combined Forces Command announced Wednesday that the 2026 Combined Joint Sustainment Training, or CJST, is running from Monday through Thursday in the Pohang area of North Gyeongsang Province and the Hongcheon area of Gangwon Province.

About 2,400 South Korean troops and 2,000 US troops are taking part. The exercise focuses on improving sustainment capabilities across land, maritime and air domains through the integrated operation of five types of support assets. It also incorporates the latest battlefield conditions — including enemy drone strikes — with enhanced training on protecting sustainment nodes.

A key component, the Combined/Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore exercise, marked the first application of the South Korean Navy's joint logistics over-the-shore system, introduced last year. Equipment and supplies offloaded from US vessels were transferred using South Korean systems, verifying logistics interoperability between the two countries.

The offloaded supplies were routed through a combat service support area at the 1st Marine Division training ground in Pohang before being transported overland and by rail to an area distribution center of the Army's 7th Corps at Maebongsan training ground in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, for delivery to forward units.

On the air logistics side, an air terminal supply point was established at the naval air command airfield in Pohang to practice rapid resupply and medical evacuation procedures. A seaport operations exercise at Pohang New Port also assessed wartime port logistics capabilities.

Running alongside the main exercise was "Dragon Lift," a combined medical support drill simulating a mass-casualty event. Set against a scenario involving 110 casualties across two axes — coastal and inland — the drill validated an integrated civil-military evacuation system linking Medevac (KUH-1M) helicopters, C-130 aircraft, rail transport and civilian medical facilities.

"This CJST allowed us to maximize sustainment capabilities across all domains — land, maritime and air," said Brig. Gen. Park Jin-won, CFC's chief of logistics. "Sustainment capability is what guarantees victory in war, and we will continue to strengthen the combined defense posture through realistic joint training."

CFC Deputy Chief of Logistics Maj. Gen. Frederick Christ said the exercise highlighted a critical vulnerability. "We cannot guarantee that the ports we need will always be available in a crisis," he said. "By offloading cargo from US vessels through South Korean systems for the first time, we demonstrated real interoperability."

CFC said it will continue conducting realistic combined exercises to maintain a "fight tonight" readiness posture.