President Lee Myung-bak |
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said Monday the recent agreement between South Korea and the United States to delay the transfer of wartime operation control (OPCON) by three years to 2015 was based on Korea’s current security situation.
“Some people are voicing criticism over the adjustment of the OPCON transfer, stressing the importance of autonomous national defense,” Lee said in a pre-recorded address to the nation, broadcast on KBS1 Radio and YouTube.
“However, the rescheduling constitutes a choice that is substantive and autonomous in nature, and in accordance with Korea’s needs.”
At his bilateral summit with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Toronto, Canada, in late June, both leaders agreed to delay the transfer of wartime control of South Korean troops to Dec. 1, 2015 from the original target date of April 17, 2012, set by their predecessors.
The Lee administration requested the rescheduling amid North Korea’s continued military provocations highlighted by a second nuclear test last year and a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean naval ship in March.
Seoul handed over its military command to the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) shortly after the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul regained its peacetime OPCON in 1994, but the wartime OPCON remains in the hands of a four-star general who commands the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
Lee pointed out that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is controlled by a U.S. commander, is a basic framework for the security of Europe with a number of strong countries.
“There are many political powers in Europe; yet NATO, which is headed by an American commander, serves as the bedrock of security in the region. The issue of OPCON must also be understood within the larger context of the security of East Asia and the world as a whole,” Lee said.
He said his administration will build up sufficient deterrence capabilities in the coming years, and make sure that the OPCON transfer is implemented successfully in a seamless manner in 2015.
Despite such efforts, there will be no increase in the country’s defense expenditures associated with the continued stationing of American forces in Korea, Lee stressed, citing the Special Measures Agreement announced in 2009 to freeze the costs at the current level for the next five years.
The President also said the summit with Obama produced an unexpected breakthrough in the stalled process of getting parliamentary approval for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations signed in 2007.
“By setting a target date and urging an expeditious compromise, President Obama made public a strong commitment to have it ratified at the earliest possible date,” Lee said.
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경찰, 이태원 등 외국인 밀집지역 특별관리
