» Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, center right, greets a member of the Korea Veterans Association (KorVA) at KorVA’s office located in Seoul’s Seongsu neighborhood, Feb. 4.

“I was surprised that the South Korean media had given such widespread coverage to my remark.”

Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, who is currently in the midst of a visit to South Korea, issued this comment in response to the South Korean media coverage of his remark regarding wartime operational control transfer during a meeting with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-whan on Feb. 4.

Prior to that statement on Feb. 3, Campbell said during a press conference that he “was aware of South Korean officials’ concerns over wartime operational control and took some of these concerns seriously.” South Korea and the U.S. agreed in 2007 that wartime operational control would be transferred from the U.S. to South Korea by 2012.

Some media outlets are broadly interpreting the remark to be indicative of the U.S.’s will to renegotiate the issue of wartime operational control. Even Chung Mong-joon, chairman of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said Thursday in regards to Campbell’s remark, “It is fortunate that the U.S. is admitting to the need to renegotiate the wartime operational control issue.”

However, an high-ranking official who wished to remain anonymous said, “Campbell’s remark was likely just a form of diplomatic rhetoric,” in response to Defense Minister Kim Tae-young’s remark at the end of last month in which he called the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to South Korea in 2012 “the worst case scenario for the military.”

The South Korean government is also saying that it has no will to renegotiate the wartime operational control transfer. A Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) official said, “No change regarding wartime operational control has occurred within the government.”

However, the will for renegotiation has been prevalent among officials in the foreign affairs and national security ministries. A number of officials in those departments have unofficially stated, “The agreement regarding the transition of wartime operational control was the wrong policy decision to make. It should be postponed if possible.” In addition, conservative organizations including the Korea Veterans Association (KorVA) have argued in favor of postponing the transfer of wartime operational control because year 2012 would be a bad time for such a transition. The conservative organizations have said, “It would create an unstable situation in 2012 because both the U.S. and South Korea will be holding presidential elections, and North Korea may have nuclear capabilities by then.”

In spite of these statements, the possibility remains low that wartime operational control will be renegotiated. The agreement over wartime operational control is between nations, thus only the presidents of the U.S. and South Korea can suggest renegotiation. Although President Lee Myung-bak pledged to reconsider the timeframe for the transfer of wartime operational control during the presidential election of 2007, he has not made any move to renegotiate until now. Furthermore, he stated after being elected, “If we decide to bring up renegotiation first before the U.S. does, we could be in a poor postition to renegotiate.” Lee added, “We should also shoulder the great burden of the cost of the U.S. base relocation and our share of the USFK budget.”

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