US Eighth Army Best Squad Competition (Dongducheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Byung-sik = A US Forces Korea soldier navigates a barbed wire obstacle during the US Eighth Army Best Squad Competition held at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province. 2025.6.2 andphotodo@yna.co.kr

U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Army Lieutenant General Joseph Hilbert as the commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, the ground component of U.S. Forces Korea, on the 5th (local time).

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses announced the appointment of U.S. generals on the same day, stating that President Trump promoted Major General Hilbert to lieutenant general and appointed him as the commander of the Eighth Army and chief of staff of the Combined Forces Command.

The new commander, Hilbert, has been serving as the commander of the 11th Airborne Division and Army Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

The commander of the U.S. Eighth Army oversees most of the U.S. Army units stationed on the Korean Peninsula, serving as the ground component of U.S. Forces Korea.

Commander Hilbert will succeed former commander Christopher LaNeve, who departed in April, by being appointed as Secretary Hegses' senior military assistant.

Yonhap News