A group of retired generals voiced opposition Wednesday to the government's renewed push to reorganize the military command structure, arguing the proposal will not be helpful in coping better with North Korean provocations.

The reform plan centers on giving the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff more power to control the Army, Navy and Air Force to help the armed forces closely cooperate in joint operations.

Reforming the military has been one of the Lee Myung-bak administration's top policy goals, especially since North Korea's two deadly attacks on the South in 2010. A similar reform bill, however, was scrapped by the last parliament when its four-year term ended in April, due to objection from opposition parties.

On Wednesday, the veterans, including former defense minister and retired chiefs of the armed forces, sent a report to the members of the parliamentary defense committee to point out flaws in the new system.

"The reform bill effectively calls for a combined military structure in which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff controls chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force," they claimed in the report. "If the Joint Chiefs of Staff controls the military administration as well as the operational command, it would add too much burden and thus make it impossible to effectively command operations."

They also argued that the proposed structure could confuse the command structure when Korea takes over wartime operational control from the United States in 2015.

The defense ministry plans to submit the bill to the Cabinet next week for legislative review. If approved, the bill, almost similar to the old version, will be sent to parliament on Aug. 20.

Under a 2007 deal with the U.S., Korea had been scheduled to take over wartime control of its armed forces in 2012, but the two sides agreed to delay the transfer by three years after the North's sinking of the Korean warship in March 2010.

The U.S. has held wartime command of Korean troops since the beginning of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Seoul regained peacetime control of its military in 1994.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed here as a deterrent against the North. (Yonhap)