Italy | Defence Meeting with Korea

[Tim]

November 18, 1997 -- PRIVATE

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As part of the Korean State Visit to Italy the Minister of National Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited the Ministry of Defence in Rome for a longer stay to plan a joint exercise which would be hosted in Italy. They would meet with the Italian Minister of Defence, Beniamio Andreatta, and admiral Guido Venturoni, Italian Chief of the Defence Staff in a large meeting room of the Ministry of Defence.

The large table had a map of Italy on it, with a marker placed on Bari in South-eastern Italy. "Good day gentlemen. It's a pleasure meeting you to plan the first Korean-Italian joint exercise," the Chief of Defence Staff said after the four had a short introductory talk."

"Our proposal would be to have both countries with one mechanized unit of about 2000 to 3500 men in the Apulia region of Italy. These units would be equipped with armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and some artillery if we decide to include artillery units." the Admiral pointed on the map to the Apulia region. "Is this something that would work for you, or would you prefer a larger or smaller force?"

Apulia region​

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Jay​

 

[Jay]

The Koreans would review the proposal, discussing amongst themselves the scope and inspecting the proposal.

Park Kyungjil [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, ROK]: "The proposal could be arranged. The ROK Army 8th Corp's Mechanized Regiments, and Artillery corps could be dispatched. However, at this time, these units are forward deployed along the DMZ due to the possibility of a flareup. We could send a smaller force between 1,500 to 2,000 personnel and necessary equipment. However, our government would like to have a joint aerial exercise consisting of paratroopers and airmobile infantry using helicopters. Italy has had quiet the reputation when it comes to air warfare and we hope to learn some skills form the Italian Armed Forces in this capacity. If this could also be arranged?"

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Our airmobile and paratrooper forces are currently not operational and it will take them a while as they are undertaking major training (OOC: being produced). This is something we are very glad to arrange on the long term, so we can both learn different air-infiltration methods. But for now a small force of around 1,500 to 2,000 personnel sounds good. For such a smaller force I would propose a small scale operation with no artillery support units, meaning only infantry battalions. The region houses our Pinerolo Mechanized Brigade which has four infantry regiments, each 500 men strong so we could make a force of increments of 500 troops, up to 2,000. Could Korea provide a similar sized unit for the exercise?" The Admiral was the one speaking, as he was very well informed about his armed forces and took a hands on role in their training.

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, ROK]: "Given the constraints and limitations for an airborne exercise, I believe our government would agree to the current plan of the mechanized infantry exercise. The ROK 8th Army Corps, he said as he looked back onto a binder in front of him, consisting of 3 mechanized regiments of 1,540 personnel, and the 2nd Armored battalion consisting of 190 personnel would bring our force to approximately 1,730. This is however, an armored division consisting of armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks, and support vehicles. Each mechanized regiment is made up of 4 battalions consisting of 100 mechanized infantry personnel....We believe this is an appropriate force to be sending. Would you concur Tim ?"

 

[Tim]

Chief of Defence Staff: "That sounds all right. I would suggest the Italian side then having a 2,000 men force but this force would contain armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. With the Korean side having more armoured support and the Italian side having more infantry this could test how our forces would handle such a difference in opponent. Do you agree? Our force would then consist of approximately 180 infantry fighting vehicles and 45 armoured personnel carriers, with some of the vehicles being equipped with anti-tank missiles. This would be one light infantry regiment and three heavy infantry regiments.

Depending on the Korean numbers we could shift this to a more infantry-based style with less infantry fighting vehicles and more armoured personnel carriers by equipping one of our heavy infantry regiments as a light infantry regiment."

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, ROK]: "We could also test our joint abilities to coordinate fire support, armored maneuvers, and other tactical awareness scenarios in a multinational setting. With regards to the technical aspect of the exercise, we would prefer if the language of usage is English, as it is perhaps the language the most numbest ro four soldiers can understand with each other. Whilst most of the APCs to be used will be Italian origin, we can also train Italian troops to use the K1 main battle tank. We would also like the exercise as an opportunity to test the KB-1 Centuaro. Our Government would like to go ahead and make an order for 38 of the KB-1 120mm variant, an additional 20 more than agreed. We would be able to train with them in Italy during this exercise." Tim

 

[Tim]

Chief of Defence Staff: "That sounds good as well, we could have all troops work together towards a certain objective or half of both our forces on one team, and the other half on the other team. We agree on the usage of English, all our commanders down to the corporals understand English, although some troops might struggle but their commanders can translate for them. Usage of the KB-1 Centauro sounds very well, this would give Korea an opportunity to test its manoeuvrability in a varied landscape. I don't think training of Italian troops with the K1 main battle tank would be beneficial as our current tank regiments are all equipped with Italian made C1 Ariette main battle tanks and we have no plans to replace these on any short timeframe."

Minister of Defence: "Is this purchase already final? If so, I'm very glad that your testing with the two samples sent has been successful. We could have these KB-1's made before the exercise ready for use, and then ship them to Korea after the exercise?"

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil: "We believe that as you have proposed the current set up. Do we have a target date for the exercise? On our end the purchase is final, approval was given before this meeting to produce an additional 20 KB-1 variants. Tim

 

[Tim]

Chief of Defence Staff: "Sometime at the beginning of January would be ideal, this would allow us plenty of time to produce all KB-1's and would allow your army units to be transported to Italy. How will they be transported, and do you need any help with that? We could provide some amphibious ships to help with troop and equipment transport."

Minister of Defence: "And gentlemen, we of course also need funding for this exercise. What budget would be appropriate for the Korean ministry of Defence? We would of course be splitting this 50/50. And the price for 40 KB-1, including the already acquired two would be... $86,167,488.00" He had doubled the price that was in his notes by some scribbling with a pencil as he had no calculator in the room.

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil: "I believe that is a good timeline. We would propose January 14 as the date for the exercise, and at maximum they must end before January 25 to allow our troops to return home for the Seollal holidays which are on January 27th. Our navy can transport the troops and their equipment to Italy. With regards to the funding,...we are support the split cost equally between parts. I can have our finance ministry clear the funds by the weekend, if that is okay with your producers." The Korean aides to the Chairman confirmed the number for him as they noted it down for approval. Tim

 

[Tim]

Chief of Defence Staff: "All right, January 14 it is then. 11 days, so until January 25 also sounds like a reasonable time frame. And that is all right, production will commence once the supplier has received the funds. As for the cost of the exercise, we were looking at the range of 500-800 million USD, split evenly this would come down to 250 to 400 million for each country. What funds would be acceptable for you? The height of this budget will determine how much we will be able to prepare the simulated battlefield for the exercise, and of course all other costs that come with the exercise."

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil:The Koreans would discuss amongst themselves the cost of the exercise and finding a suitable arrangement for the total cost. Acknowledging the logistical aspect including accommodations, food, transporting equipment, and other items, they had to accept that the costs would be much higher. "We believe it would be fair to split the exercise costs to $325 million to a Toal of $650 million for the entire exercise. Is this acceptable to your government?" Tim

 

[Tim]

The Chief of Defence Staff looked at the Minister of Defence who nodded and spoke: "$650 million sounds acceptable to us and within our budget for spending. We are very glad to go through with this and very glad to be working together on this. So for the exercise, shall we do some planning?"

Chief of Defence Staff: "So you discussed wanting to do some cooperation, we proposed a small-scale wargame. Are there any other parts you would like to add? I believe that these two, and potentially other are very good training methods to get our armoured units highly trained and capable for combat deployment. And another thing, do you perhaps have an idea for the name of this Joint Exercise?"

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil: "Yes we can move on the planning and technical aspect of the training...trying to remember what he had said about about cooperation...still fleeting his mind, unable to recollect it. "I seem to have lost my train of though about the cooperation part. If I remember I will raise it again...The Korean Army utilizes a system of Operational Plan XXX, i.e. OPLAN 502 for example. Our training exercises are not code named. However, when involved in multinational exercises, we often use the naming system respective for both countries. As such, I would leave it to you to propose the name of the exercise as the hosting party." Tim

 

[Tim]

Chief of Defence Staff: "With the cooperation I meant our forces working together to test our inter-force communication capabilities, which you offered earlier. As for the wargame, I would propose a few objectives for both militaries who would fully operate with blank cartridges as to really experience the effect that firing their weapon has on them. The forces can then 'die' if they see they are being hit.

Is there anything else you want to discuss? Because if not I believe it would be best if we both contacted our armies to get to the detailed planning. As soon as our files are complete we will share them with you, you can do the same before the start of the training."
I'll make the topic in exercises forum with the Italian ORBAT, you can then reply with your ORBAT

Jay​

 

[Jay]

Park Kyungjil: "Ah yes, thank you for the reminder. Yes, primarily to focus on our ability to communicate with each other, utilize tactics from each others countries, and also know how to use equipment from each other in the event of multilateral deployments in the future. In the Korean Combat Training System we utilize the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System for simulated exercises and war game exercises. Allowing personnel engaged on the exercise to simulate causalities. We would propose the objectives for the war-game be structured by both armies in a simulated joint planning session. Instead of planning out the details here, our officers would initially plan their operations when they are deployed together, and then execute it during the exercise. Unless you object to this proposal?...We will also share our files relevant to the exercise when they become available." Tim

 

[Tim]

Chief of Defence Staff: "Alright, having our forces working together will indeed allow us to share our tactics and teach us valuable lessons in military cooperation for the future. The use of MILES also sounds good, since we operate it on a small scale so we could equip our troops with it. I agree, by letting our lower officers decide the objectives they also learn some very valuable lessons in prioritizing objectives and communicating those findings to their units. I do not believe we have anything else required to be discussed right now."

Jay​

 

[Jay]

The flight had been long for the Chairman, and he was getting slightly tired from the discussions. Still, keeping his face active and attentive to not aspouse the he was tired. His aides would also occasionally interject giving him the opportunity to relax momentarily, addressing technical points for the Minister instead. As the talks dwindled and the Italians signified a closing, the Chairman spoke. Park Kyungjil: "Thank you, I believe that what we have stated so far is a mutually agreeable course for the exercise. We can begin be the logistical discussion, troop quantity and equipment registration, and allow the officer corps the ability to begin planning." Tim