hankyoreh

By and large, the US is responding coolly to the South Korean government’s request for a delay in the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of ROK military forces, which is scheduled for December 2015.

We hope that the South Korean government will stop begging the US to delay the transfer of control, which would offer no advantages and for which there is no justification. Instead, it should keep preparing for the transfer of control.

In the written brief that Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, submitted for his reconfirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 18 (local time), he said that he supports transferring operational control as planned and that the timing of the transfer is appropriate from a military perspective.

In addition, the majority of experts in the US take a negative view on postponing the wartime OPCON transfer. They are perplexed to see South Korea, which plays an important geopolitical role and has a strong economy, trying to delay the wartime OPCON transfer. They find the motivation for the decision to be based more on domestic politics and psychology than on strategic concerns.

These experts say that, psychologically speaking, South Korea has grown so used to depending on the US that it is like a baby afraid of being weaned off its mother’s milk. They also point to a political agenda that seeks to use the threat posed by North Korea’s long-range missiles and nuclear weapons to consolidate conservative support.

There is absolutely no reason for the US to delay the wartime OPCON transfer. As a result, even if discussions take place about the delay, the South Korean government will be forced to beg the US government to consent to the delay.

This is not beneficial for the future of South Korea, nor is it in the national interest.

Even if the US agrees to postpone the wartime OPCON transfer, it will regard it as natural to request something in return, such as an adjustment of the total military forces stationed in South Korea.

There is already talk that South Korea will have to pay a huge price for getting the US to agree, whether in military purchases (such as the next-generation jet fighter project) or in the defense cost-sharing agreement.

The fundamental problem, though, is that South Korea should not even be proposing that the wartime OPCON transfer be postponed.

Even if the wartime OPCON transfer takes place, US forces will not suddenly be withdrawn from South Korea, nor will the joint forces’ ability to wage war suddenly be diminished.

During a war, the US would choose to strengthen its military presence on the peninsula because it is in its own interest to do so. The question of who has wartime OPCON would have no bearing on that decision.

On the other hand, if wartime OPCON is transferred to South Korea, it would be easier for ROK forces to deal with issues independently, and South Korea would also gain a stronger bargaining position against North Korea on an entire range of issues related to the Korean peninsula.

Delaying the wartime OPCON transfer does not honor the diligent efforts by several South Korean administrations to strengthen the strategic alliance with the US. In addition, it would be a disavowal of the hard work spent preparing for the wartime OPCON transfer over the past six years.

It goes without saying that postponing the transfer would also damage the “international trust” that South Korean President Park Geun-hye has so strongly emphasized.

It is a mistake for Park to remain in the background while the issue of delaying the wartime OPCON transfer is being debated. If she is unable to clearly explain to the Korean people why it is absolutely necessary for the transfer to be delayed, she ought to immediately stop all efforts to do so.

What Park ought to be doing is making sure that the right systems are in place and inspecting those systems so that the wartime OPCON transfer can be carried out successfully.

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