# Canadian Names as Deputy Commander of UN Command in Korea



## Old Sweat (14 May 2018)

The Globe and Mail reports in this story reproduced under the Fair Comment provisions of the Copyright Act that Lieutenant General Wayne Eyre will assume the position of Deputy Commander of the UN Command in Korea this summer.

UN Command names Canadian to key post in South Korea for the first time

STEVEN CHASE
OTTAWA

A Canadian soldier has been appointed deputy commander at the United Nations Command in South Korea, a post that will place Lieutenant-General Wayne Eyre at the centre of deliberations over the future of the Asian Peninsula.

The United Nations Command is the multinational force that was created in response to North Korean aggression more than half a century ago and which defended South Korea during the Korean War.

Lt.-Gen. Eyre’s new assignment comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un prepare for a historic meeting in June that could have major implications for the future of the two Koreas.

This is the first time a Canadian has served as deputy commander of the United Nations Command, the Canadian military says, and the first time in the command’s 68-year-history that this post has been offered to a non-American officer.

The Korean War ended without a permanent peace. An armistice concluded hostilities in 1953 and the United Nations Command signed it on behalf of more than 15 allies including Canada.

The command remains intact and plays a role in armistice maintenance and defensive support alongside the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command.

Euan Graham, director of the international-security program at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, says the top American general in South Korea has been trying to revitalize the United Nations Command as a “coalition of the willing” after many years of the United States ignoring the multinational force. He said the appointment of a Canadian as second-in-command is in keeping with that.

Canada has stepped up its efforts regarding the Korean conflict in recent months. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland co-hosted a January, 2018 meeting of foreign ministers with former secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

The Canadian military sent a CP-140 Aurora surveillance aircraft along with 40 people to Japan in April to participate in a mission countering North Korea’s maritime smuggling.

Lt.-Gen. Eyre is regarded as a rising star in the Canadian military. He recently served as the head of the Canadian Army in Western Canada as commander of 3rd Canadian Division in Edmonton and Joint Task Force West. He commanded the task force that secured the 2010 Group of Eight Summit, as well as the military response to both the 2015 Saskatchewan wildfires and the 2016 Fort McMurray evacuation.

General Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff in Canada, said there are other ways to contribute to international efforts besides deploying big numbers of soldiers. “Doing our part for global peace and security is often more than sending a large contingent of Canadian Armed Forces members,” Gen. Vance said.

“In sending Lieutenant-General Eyre as the next deputy commander of UNC-Korea, I am dispatching an accomplished‎ general officer who will, I am certain, represent Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces with distinction.” The posting is for a two-year period.

The United Nations Command could assume greater importance in the months and years ahead regardless of how negotiations with North Korea turn out.

Retired South Korean lieutenant-general In-Bum Chun recently proposed that the UN Command could be used to help monitor and supervise any denuclearization arrangement. Conversely, if talks flounder, the multinational force would also be needed.

Writing on the website 38 North for the U.S.-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University, Mr. Chun said that if South Korea opted for a nuclear deterrent, the command could provide the same oversight of Seoul’s nuclear effort. If war broke out, the command would undertake a key role through seven bases and staging areas in nearby Japan, Mr. Chun wrote in a September, 2017 analysis on 38 North.

The Canadian army officer was promoted to lieutenant-general as part of the posting. This gives him the same rank as the heads of the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Fen Hampson, director of the global security & politics program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said Mr. Trump’s talks with North Korea amount to a roll of the dice and the multinational commitment through the United Nations Command helps buttress negotiations but also represents an important fallback in security terms if things turn sour.

“Canada’s kind of been on and off again when it comes to [playing a role] in Asian security and the Korea meeting in Vancouver and this upgrading of our role at the United Nations Command shows we’re taking this more seriously.”


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## Rifleman62 (14 May 2018)

Also former RSSO of the RWpgRif which he lists on his Bio.


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## dapaterson (14 May 2018)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> Also former RSSO of the RWpgRif which he lists on his Bio.



Well, nobody's perfect...


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## tomahawk6 (14 May 2018)

We no longer have a Canadian at Ft Hood maybe the brass decided to make a room in Korea.Although doing so at Pacific Command or Europe would be better.


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## SeaKingTacco (14 May 2018)

This isn't a US military job- it is a UN.


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## PPCLI Guy (14 May 2018)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> We no longer have a Canadian at Ft Hood maybe the brass decided to make a room in Korea.Although doing so at Pacific Command or Europe would be better.



They are at Bragg and Lewis now, as DCGs.


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## Blackadder1916 (14 May 2018)

SeaKingTacco said:
			
		

> This isn't a US military job- it is a UN.



Yes and no.  Maybe.  Possibly.  Maybe not.  Who the ****s knows.

Though not an official source, this is probably as good an explanation of UNC as to be found elsewhere.

http://icks.org/data/ijks/1498534150_add_file_3.pdf


> United Nations Command
> 
> The USG established the UNC to lead UN member nation’s forces in
> the summer 1950 following North Korea’s invasion of the ROK. The
> ...


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## Infanteer (14 May 2018)

Blackadder1916 said:
			
		

> Yes and no.  Maybe.  Possibly.  Maybe not.  Who the ****s knows.



It's not.  The Commander US Forces Korea (USFK - a sub-unified command under USPACOM) is a US 4*.  He is also appointed as the commander of the Combined Forces Command, the combined US-South Korean command (with a South Korean 4*Deputy) and as commander of the United Nations Command with, now, a Canadian 3* Deputy.  These are three separate hats.


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## Blackadder1916 (14 May 2018)

Infanteer said:
			
		

> It's not.  . . .



It's not what?  A US military job? Or a UN job?  I was responding to the comment "This isn't a US military job- it is a UN.".  I guess I should have included the sarcasm emoji when I prefaced my comment to the quoted piece that (to me anyway) very aptly explained that UNC is essentially an American HQ and that the UN (despite being part of the command's title which lends to the confusion of who the organization reports to) gives no direction in it's operation.


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## tomahawk6 (14 May 2018)

SeaKingTacco said:
			
		

> This isn't a US military job- it is a UN.



There is a US commander and most of the staff is American,until the Combined Forces Command was stood up with a ROK Army 4 star as deputy.I have served in Korea several times in my career and my dad worked in the UNC/USFK/8th Army Hq at Yongsan.Now its all moved to Camp Humphries south of Seoul.


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## Journeyman (15 May 2018)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> We no longer have a Canadian at Ft Hood maybe the brass decided to make a room in Korea. Although doing so at Pacific Command or Europe would be better.


Why?


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## tomahawk6 (15 May 2018)

It is probably a CF decision.As has been mentioned Brig. Gen. Marc Gagne is at ft Bragg.Alaska has a Canadian Colonel one Roch Pelletier.BG Fortin was reassigned and promoted and is CG 1st  Canadian Division. Lieutenant-General Pierre St-Amand is the Deputy Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/238403/canadian-general-bids-farewell


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## Journeyman (15 May 2018)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> Although doing so at Pacific Command or Europe would be better.
> [Why?]
> It is probably a CF decision.


Sorry, I was actually curious why you thought Pacific Command or Europe would be a better posting for Gen Eyre, rather than Korea.


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## tomahawk6 (15 May 2018)

Canada has a wider range of national interests Europe would be supporting NATO and in the Pacific there are national interests like China. I Corps and Alaska for example are now part of Pacific Command.Of course the USAF in Alaska also have a NORAD mission.


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## Journeyman (15 May 2018)

Thanks.  

I personally believe that Canada has interests in a stable Korean peninsula -- both security interests (Asian flash-point) and political interests (demonstrating solidarity with US).

Not wanting to re-visit a can of worms, but given our Mali decision (seriously folks, everything you want to say has already been said!), I'm doubting that security or political (not to be confused with governmental) interests enter many such decision-making equations.  In this case, it seems like a rational call.

Good on LGen Eyre.   :nod:


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## tomahawk6 (15 May 2018)

Before Britain withdrew from Hong Kong the UNC/8th Army honor guard company rotated a platoon.Besides ceremonial tasks the unit provides for security of general officers and the HQ.There is also a Royal Thai Army contingent.

http://www.usfk.mil/Leadership/


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