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Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo pose for a photo before their bilateral talks at the South Korean Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on June 3.

South Korea and the US have decided that the new location of the headquarters of the Combined Forces Command (CFC) — which is moving out of Yongsan, Seoul, along with the US garrison there — will be Camp Humphreys, the US military base in Pyeongtaek. In addition, they agreed that the commander of the future CFC, who will exercise wartime operational control (OPCON) of Korean forces after OPCON is transferred to South Korea, will not be the chair of the South Korean Chiefs of Staff but another four-star general in the South Korean military.

These were some of the points made in a joint press statement released after a meeting between South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on June 3 at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) in Seoul. “We approved the plan to relocate the headquarters of the Combined Forces Command to Camp Humphreys and to appoint as commander of the future Combined Forces Command a four-star general in the South Korean military who is not already serving as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” the defense chiefs said.

Jeong and Shanahan expressed their shared view that relocating the CFC headquarters to Pyeongtaek would “improve the CFC’s operational efficiency and our joint defense posture.” This means that the future CFC, despite being led by a four-star general in the South Korean military after the OPCON transfer, will be effectively moving into the US base at Pyeongtaek, leading some to raise concerns that this will weaken the South Korean military’s leadership. In October 2017, South Korean and US military officials agreed to transfer the CFC headquarters to the premises of South Korea’s Defense Ministry and even signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to that effect.

The defense chiefs also approved a plan to appoint a four-star general in the South Korean military who is not already chair of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to serve as commander of the future CFC.

“In wartime, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will advise the defense minister on his war orders and serve as martial law commander, integrated defense headquarters director, and integrated defense commander, taking responsibility for military diplomacy and for leading CFC bases in the rear,” explained an official at the MND. “In light of such duties, we concluded that it would be more efficient to make the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of the future CFC separate positions.”

The transition to the future CFC system will mean the elimination of the current position of deputy CFC commander, which is currently held by a four-star general in the South Korean military. This four-star general slot in the military hierarchy will likely be maintained to serve as the future CFC commander.

The defense chiefs “took note of the fact that considerable progress is being made toward satisfying the conditions for the OPCON transfer and voiced their expectations about the initial operational capability assessment that is scheduled for the second half of this year,” the MND reported. This suggests that a four-star general in the South Korean military will lead the initial operational capability assessment, the first stage in reviewing the conditions for the OPCON transfer and the South Korean military’s capabilities, to mirror the command structure of the future CFC.

During their meeting on June 3, the defense chiefs discussed the recent security situation on the Korean Peninsula and reconfirmed their pledge to continue supporting diplomatic efforts to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to establish peace there. They “expressed their concerns about North Korea’s recent launch of short-range missiles and agreed to work more closely together in a range of areas, including sharing information about North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile activities,” according to the MND. This was Shanahan’s first visit to South Korea since his appointment in January.

By Yoo Kang-moon, senior staff writer

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