The Impact of the U.S. Marine Corps Transformation on Amphibious Operations on the Korean Peninsula: Focusing on Threats and Opportunities factors from the Korea’s Perspective

The U.S. Marine Corps has been working to present a new operational concept and innovatively transform its unit and force structure, starting with the “Force Design 2030” announced in 2020. The core of the Marine Corps transformation is to establish Marine Littoral Regiments (MLRs) centered on the III Marine Expeditionary Force (III-MEF) and to boldly dismantle or reduce forces and units deemed low priority in future battlefields to secure new capabilities. Therefore, such transformations in the U.S. Marine Corps are expected to bring significant changes to the execution of combined amphibious operations between South Korea and the United States on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, this study analyzes the impact of the U.S. Marine Corps transformation on amphibious operations on the Korean Peninsula from the perspective of South Korea, focusing on both threat and opportunity factors. To achieve the research objectives, this study reviewed various internal debates in the United States related to the transformation, analyzed the Marine Corps command's perception of amphibious operations, the scale of forces and support capabilities to be deployed in actual amphibious operations, and unit operational concepts, and used these as a basis for evaluating threat factors and opportunity factors. The results of the study indicate that threat factors include a decrease in the priority of amphibious operations, a reduction in the total forces and initial forces to be deployed for amphibious operations, and a decrease in support vessels and close combat capabilities. On the other hand, opportunity factors included the potential for enhanced strategic and tactical coordination through strengthened military cooperation, increased coastal operation capabilities around the Korean Peninsula, and the effects of new capabilities such as long-range precision strike capabilities. Therefore, considering these threat factors and opportunity factors, at the national level, it is necessary to utilize the opportunity to strengthen defense cooperation and establish war plans considering the changed capabilities. Additionally, at the level of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, it is suggested that efforts should be made to improve operational concepts, review unit structures and power structure changes, and further development of combined training concepts.