hankyoreh

During a summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, President Lee Myung-bak made the decision to postpone the date of the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to South Korea. This signals that wartime control, which was supposed to return to South Korea on April 17 in 2012, the last year of Lee’s term, will now remain in the hands of another nation’s armed forces for an additional three years and seven months. This is an extremely misguided decision that forsakes military sovereignty and endangers the security of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea and the U.S. differ in their concepts of national security. Whereas the preservation of Korean lives and property is the greatest priority for South Korea, the U.S. sets different priorities in terms of global strategy. A clear illustration of this came during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis, when the U.S. generated friction with South Korea by examining the implementation of a war scenario for the Korean Peninsula. This latest summit decision opened up the possibility for a repeat of such a dangerous proposal. Not only is it unsuited to a sovereign nation, but it also diminishes South Korea’s international voice on matters of national security. The reasons cited for the decision include changes in the security situation on the Korean Peninsula that have come about from events such as North Korea’s nuclear test and the sinking of the Cheonan, but these are flimsy excuses. The Cheonan incident highlighted the need to hasten the transfer of wartime operational control, not postpone it. President Lee went about things backwards, following the advice of military brass awash in outdated thinking.

Despite the administration’s strenuous denials, it has emerged that discussions of the postponement have been taking place over an extended time period. It appears to be an attempt to boast of some surprise achievement through closed-door diplomacy, but the administration will be unable to avoid criticisms of its massive deception of the people of South Korea. The wartime operational control issue can hardly be classified as a military secret. Rather, it is an issue of principle within the broader scheme of our national security framework, aimed at maintaining the security of the national community, and requires vigorous discussion by experts and civil society.

Indeed, active discussions took place in the public sphere both at the time of Roh Tae-woo’s pledge to reclaim wartime command during his presidential bid in 1987 and at the time of the 1994 agreement to reclaim peacetime operational control and the 2007 agreement to reclaim wartime control. The current administration is the only one to have treated the wartime operational control issue as a string of secret political maneuverings.

As such, it is inevitable that suspicions will emerge about behind-the-scenes transactions regarding the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). To date, there have been calls from the U.S. Congress and other parties for an increase in the beef import age restriction. Regulations on beef and by-products for cattle aged over 30 months were established by the government in 2008 through renegotiations with the United States. The U.S. has also been calling for additional measures to open up the South Korean automobile market. A concern is that if new discussions are held on beef imports, we might see the collapse of even the minimal food safety safeguards put in place over the course of the 2008 candlelight vigil demonstrations. The automobile sector is an area in which the Roh administration was viewed as having preserved at least some industry benefits at the time the agreement was signed, and one cannot help being concerned that even those might be given away as well.

Given that it involves abandoning military sovereignty and the possibility of giving away existing achievements in the areas of trade and food safety, these talks must be viewed as the worst in summit diplomacy. One can surmise what influenced this outcome: it was likely the result of heeding the political demands of certain retired generals and conservatives. However, the June 2 local elections have already proved that such retrograde governance goes against the current of the times. The Lee administration should immediately disclose the entire process in connection with these talks. Both the issues of wartime operational control and the KORUS FTA will run up against serious resistance if they are not examined through public debates like the National Assembly and civil society.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]