Defense ministers don’t discuss transfer of military control at bilateral meeting

Posted on : 2013-06-03 14:16 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
There is skepticism over whether the US would agree to South Korean command of its troops
 May 31. (AP/Yonhap News)
May 31. (AP/Yonhap News)

By Gil Yun-hyung and Park Byong-su, staff reporters

When the South Korean Defense Minister and the US Secretary of Defense met on May 1, the proposed new command structure that will replace the current Combined Forces Command (CFC) after wartime operational control is transferred to South Korea in 2015 was not even on the agenda, the Hankyoreh confirmed. Considering that working-level discussions between US and South Korean officials about the proposal had already been completed and it was regarded as likely that the proposal would be adopted during this meeting, there is a lot of talk about why the plan was not even brought up.

The South Korean Ministry of Defense said that the proposal for a new joint command structure for US and ROK forces was not included on the agenda for the meeting between South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. The meeting was held on June 1 in Singapore during the Shangri-La Dialogue (the 12th Asia IISS Security Summit).

“It hasn’t been long since Hagel was appointed US Secretary of Defense, and we mostly talked about the alliance between the US and South Korea since the third North Korean nuclear test in February, as well as signs of cooperation in the international community,” Kim told reporters on June 1. “This is why I didn’t bring up the question of wartime operational control [at this meeting]. The new combined command structure is complicated, and there is still a lot for working-level military officials to discuss.”

The ministry indicated that it was planning on working out more of these details so that the heads of defense in both countries can come to an agreement during the 45th annual ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), which will be held in Seoul in October.

The Ministry of Defense has not given a clear explanation of why the proposal was kept off the meeting’s agenda, but it is possible to guess based on the content of the military working-level (joint chiefs of staff) agreement between the two countries that the Ministry presented at the end of April.

The first point that must be mentioned is that after the transfer, ROK forces would be commanding US forces. According to the agreement, after wartime operational control is transferred to South Korea in 2015, the US and South Korea would create a combined military theater command to replace the current CFC. The chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff would be in charge of the new command, while the commander of US forces in Korea would be the assistant commander.

This means not only that the US would have to relinquish the wartime operational control over the combined US and ROK forces that it has held since the Korean War started in 1950, but also that US forces would have to follow the orders of a ROK commander in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula. While at present around 28,500 US soldiers are stationed in South Korea, this could increase to more than 100,000 during a war. For the US, it would not be easy to accept the idea of so many soldiers being commanded by the South Korean military.

In Germany, another country in which a large number of US soldiers are stationed, the NATO treaty states that the US would have operational command in the event of a war. And in Japan, US and Japanese military forces assist each other, but they are each in charge of their own military affairs. Furthermore, it is widely known that there is no historical precedent for US military forces taking commands from a foreign army.

“If things turn out as the South Korean government announced, this would be the first time that the US has granted command of its forces to another country,” said Choe Jong-geon, a professor of international security at Yonsei University. “I am curious whether the US will really do this.”

Speaking in regard to this issue, Kim said, “[The US] probably will have some strong feelings about this, but that will not be an obstacle to creating a new combined command structure.” Kim essentially acknowledged that the US is taking the issue seriously.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense has been very aggressive about pushing for this new command structure. It provided reporters with an early explanation of the proposal even though the US has yet to agree to it. Also, the Ministry allowed the press to report on these developments despite the fact that no agreement was made during the recent meeting between the two ministers. These actions are highly unusual when viewed in light of the past relations between the government and the media. This is why some people suspect that the Ministry of Defense may be trying to use the press to ram through the new proposal that is under discussion.

“The final decision will not be made before the ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting in October,” a source at the Ministry of Defense told a Hankyoreh reporter on condition of anonymity. “Since it is possible that a decision may not be made even then, it would not be advisable for your article to sound too definite.” But while saying this, the source made no objections to the article itself.

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

 

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