hankyoreh

South Korea and the United States have agreed to hand over wartime command of South Korean troops to Seoul as of January 2012, a senior South Korean government official said on February 21. The two sides will formally sign an agreement during scheduled talks between South Korean and U.S. defense ministers on February 23 in Washington, the official added.

Wartime command of South Korea's troops has been in U.S. hands since the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

"During telephone talks between high-level South Korean and U.S. officials, the U.S. side agreed on our proposal to return wartime control as of January 2012," the official said, asking to remain anonymous for this story. "South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs will officially sign the agreement at the Washington meeting."

Last October, the two allies agreed to hand over wartime control of South Korean troops to Seoul between October 15, 2009 and March 15, 2012 at their annual Security Consultative Meeting. Since then, the U.S. has wanted to return the control as of 2009, while South Korea had hoped to regain it as of 2012.

Recently, Washington told Seoul it could put off regaining wartime control of South Korean troops until October 2011, the official said. But South Korea then asked the U.S. to delay the move by three additional months in order to "sustain the alliance" between the two nations, and the U.S. side agreed, the official said.

At the Security Policy Initiative talks held in Seoul on February 7-8, the U.S. reportedly came close to accepting South Korea's request for a later handover date. On February 15, South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo told reporters that, "The timing for the wartime control handover will be agreed upon by each side's defense chiefs. I will try to set the timing during the February 23 talks."

Kim left for the U.S. on February 22 and will return home on February 26 after visiting Japan. In Tokyo, Kim is slated to meet with Japan's Defense Minister Kyuma Fumio to discuss boosting military cooperation between the two nations.

Meanwhile, South Korea's defense ministry denounced a parliamentary resolution that opposes the regaining of wartime control from the U.S. before the full settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue. "If we cancel the South Korea-U.S. agreement that confirms the date of returning wartime control at this point, it will significantly undermine trust between the two allies."

The ministry added that a U.S.-provided nuclear umbrella - under the Mutual Defense Treaty between South Korea and the U.S. - would be sustained even after the wartime control handover.

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