OPCON transfer delayed again, this time to early-2020s target date

Posted on : 2014-09-17 18:31 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Deliberations between S. Korea and US ongoing to push transfer to when Seoul’s kill chain and KAMD are established

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

South Korea and the US have reportedly agreed on an early-2020s target date for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), and entered discussions on the specific conditions and timeline.

The issue of an additional postponement of the transfer was discussed at a senior meeting at the Ministry of National Defense complex in Seoul on Sept. 16 by ministry policy office chief Ryu Je-seung and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Helvey. The two sides reportedly reaffirmed plans to announce the official timeline and conditions for the OPCON transfer at mid-October’s ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting. Delegations for both countries plan to hold additional discussions at the two-day senior-level Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD), which begins on Sept. 17.

Both sides had earlier agreed on a “conditional transfer,” with the date postponed once again from its scheduled Dec. 2015. According to sources, they examined specific conditions for the transfer and did last-minute coordination at the recent meeting, with a focus on the Korean Peninsula’s security situation, the South Korean military’s ability to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats, and building the South Korean military’s peninsula-wide operational capabilities.

A general consensus was also reached on when to have the transfer, with both sides agreeing on the importance of deterrence against North Korea’s use of its weapons of mass destruction and conducting discussions with a target transfer date in the early-2020s, when South Korea will be establishing its kill chain and Korean Air and Missile Defense System (KAMD).

The two countries are also reportedly discussing the possibility of a looser arrangement on the anticipated target date - satisfying the conditions for the transfer without nailing down a specific timeline.

“It’s important to consider whether the South Korean military has the capability to exercise OPCON and whether the conditions have been met,” said a military officer on condition of anonymity. “The date of the transfer is determined according to the capabilities and conditions.”

“We could end up agreeing on a more flexible target date for the handover, rather than saying it will happen on some specific day, like ‘April 17, 2012’ or ‘December 1, 2015,’” the authority added.

Meanwhile, Blue House Office of National Security chief Kim Kwan-jin continued his visit to the US on Sept. 15, meeting with White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice to explain about President Park Geun-hye’s North Korea policies, including her “unification jackpot” framework and the vision she laid out in Dresden Declaration in March. Rice expressed active support, the Blue House and South Korean embassy in Washington reported.

 

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