The U.S. and South Korean Marine Corps conducted military exercises to accommodate and support refugees in the event of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK Marine Corps said on Thursday.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and state-run broadcaster KBS pointed out it was the first-ever military training to accommodate North Korean refugees likely to flood South in case of war.

The South’s Marine Corps said it managed and organized the new troops taking full charge of civil-military operations (CMO), whose mission is to house refugees and offer medical support to residents “for the first time.”

Along with the U.S. Marine Corp’s CMO specialists, the South’s military carried out “practical military drills” to enhance their capabilities.

“Following landing operations, the military forces for the civil-military operations accommodated refugees flowing into the field of operations from front-line and rear areas, and provided humanitarian aid,” the South’s Marine Corps said in a written statement.

“The military utilized makeshift and tent-style medical facilities, and mastered patient processing including patient classification, treatment of general patients and emergency surgery of urgent patients,” the military added.

The drills were part of the South Korean Navy’s annual Hoguk Exercise which will run from October 29 to November 6, a move aimed at practicing independent amphibious operations suitable for a wartime situation on the Korean peninsula.

About 2,600 soldiers and 300 military assets including 36 amphibious assault landing vehicles, K55 self-propelled artillery, and K1 tanks were mobilized, according to the South’s Marine Corps.

Yonhap said around 130 U.S. marines, who are experienced in aiding refugees in Afghanistan, also participated in the drills.

The U.S. Marine Corps, as Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), helped the central government of Afghanistan by establishing health clinics, and reconstructing damaged infrastructure to make self-sustaining and peaceful local society.

“The United States Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa have mission capabilities for civil-military operations,” Yonhap reported, quoting an unnamed military officer at the South’s Marine Corps. “It was the practical training where [the South] could share experiences of the U.S. armed forces.”

A military expert based in South Korea said the training was meaningful in the sense that Seoul and Washington demonstrated they were both prepared for possible hostilities and by extension, “post-war situations.”

“Civil-military operations (CMO) are the processes of resolving the issues which can happen after military occupation,” Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum (KODEF) told NK News .

“The military prevents insurgencies [in the post-war years] and governs the occupied areas through CMO, for instance.”

Yang underscored the CMO would implement disaster relief activities to rescue and assist North Korean refugees and South Korean residents.

“It’s symbolic since we can understand that both (the U.S. and the South) are ready to fight [against the North] and lay out plans for next steps [by carrying out the CMO],” Yang said.

Feature Image: Republic of Korea Armed Forces (2013.10.21, Hokuk Exercise of ROK Army 8th Division)