Top Secret War Command Posts Ready for North Korea’s Provocations – Part 1

President Yoon Suk Yeol made headlines with his surprise visit to the Combined Forces Command’s wartime command post (CP TANGO) on August 23 last year, while the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFS) joint exercise was in full swing.

At the scene, Yoon sent a warning message to North Korea, stating, “We need to prepare a strong readiness in a combination of the nuclear and non-nuclear forces of South Korea and the United States by presenting the situation of North Korea’s nuclear usage when North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocation is the most severe threat that exists.” He emphasized that “during such times, the source of power for immediate punishment in the case of North Korea’s provocation is the overwhelming capability of the South Korea-US alliance, the realistic exercise and training of South Korea-US soldiers, and their firm mental armament.”

After the agreement between South Korea, the United States, and Japan on elevating the level of cooperation against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats at the Camp David summit in the United States last year, starting in the latter half of last year, South Korea and the United States have been conducting joint exercises applying scenarios reflecting North Korea’s enhanced nuclear and missile capabilities. A war command post is needed to serve as the brain and heart of the combined forces that command the ground, sea, and air forces, as well as the Marine Corps of South Korea and the United States.

In other words, it is the place where the Combined Forces Command commands the war when North Korea carries out military provocations, and war breaks out again on the Korean Peninsula. Where and how many command posts(bunkers) are there, and what are the command and control facilities for the military leaders of South Korea and the United States to gather in case of an emergency? It is known that there are about seven underground bunkers used as command posts in South Korea.

CP TANGO Withstands Direct Hits from Tactical Nuclear Weapons

The most well-known is CP TANGO (Command Post TANGO), the wartime command and control facility of the Combined Forces Command established in the 1970s. CP TANGO means Command Post, Theater, Air Naval, and Ground Operations, which can be directly translated as the US military’s Command Post for the Air, Naval, and Ground Theater Operations.

Its existence itself has been shrouded in a thorough veil of secrecy. However, it was first revealed to the media when Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State at the time, visited Korea in March 2005 and encouraged the soldiers who were playing a war game, becoming the first among US presidents, secretaries of state, and secretaries of defense to visit.

It was built as an underground bunker in a solid granite tunnel under Cheonggyesan Mountain in the civilian control zone south of the Han River. It was reported to the media at the time of Secretary Rice’s visit that it was designed to be able to live for more than two months, isolated from the outside world, with a maze of meeting rooms, restaurants, etc., spread over thousands of square feet.

It is approximately 10,000 square yards, and the number of combined forces personnel that can gather here is about 500, including reinforcement troops. In the early 1970s, it was built as a fallout bunker (radiation fallout bunker) deep under the solid granite bedrock of Cheonggyesan Mountain. It is a powerful reinforced concrete structure that can withstand a tactical nuclear attack.

Small electric battery vehicles are used for internal movement. The interior is connected like a maze across multiple floors and equipped with supplies for the resident personnel to live for a considerable period, as well as power generation and water supply facilities. Commanders gather in the war room within TANGO and share the information on a screen the size of a movie theater screen. The screen shows the status of friendly and enemy forces and missile trajectories.

Particularly, CP TANGO has a SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility). This state-of-the-art special information facility is sensitively divided and not easily accessible even by high-ranking officials from the Korean military. The SCIF has strict access control because it is possible to receive the latest information in real-time, including surveillance information from spy satellites monitoring the skies over the Korean Peninsula and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft of the US forces in Korea, as well as photo information delivered by high-altitude unmanned aircraft Global Hawk, intelligence captured by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) of the United States. It is currently evaluated as having the best facilities among the bunkers of the US forces in Korea.

Through this, it is known that they can detect signs of North Korean provocations at least 48 hours before the outbreak of war if North Korea is preparing for an invasion.

Shin Jong Woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, evaluated, “There is no bunker on the Korean Peninsula yet that can replace CP TANGO considering its robustness and communication facilities.”

To read Part 2…
To read Part 3…