US Opposes Renegotiation of Wartime Control Transfer
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The top U.S. envoy here said Friday that the transition of wartime operational control of the South Korean military from the United States to Korean commanders should be completed by 2012 as planned.
The remarks by U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow came amid speculation that the two countries would renegotiate the timing of the wartime control transfer during the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration.
President-elect Lee said earlier he would consider renegotiating the issue when he takes office. Conservative forces led by Lee's Grand National Party have claimed the transfer of operational control (OPCON) is premature given lingering threats by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
``As I said, the strategic transition plan was already agreed upon and it is being implemented,'' Vershbow said in a security forum, organized by the state-funded Korea Defense Institute for Analyses, in Seoul.
He said the agreed five-year framework for the transition is enough to prepare for new command rearrangements between the two militaries, adding Seoul and Washington will keep reviewing the relevant process to prevent a security vacuum on the Korean peninsula.
The South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs agreed early this year on the OPCON transfer and other command rearrangement measures in bids to give the Korean military more responsibility for national security.
Under the pact, South Korea is to exercise independent OPCON of its armed forces during wartime beginning April 17, 2012. The U.S. military will shift to a naval- and air-centric supporting role.
The two sides also agreed to run separate military commands after inactivating the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).
South Korea voluntarily handed over the OPCON to the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) during the 1950-53 Korean War. The command authority was later transferred to the CFC. Seoul took over peacetime control over its military in 1994.
Currently, the four-star U.S. commander of the CFC is able to command both South Korean and American troops in case of an emergency. The CFC commander concurrently serves as chief of the U.S. Forces Korea and the UNC. About 27,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed here as a deterrent against nuclear-armed North Korea.
Critics say the command transfer would likely compromise combined forces capabilities of the two militaries against the heavily armed North. They argue chances for the Korean military to secure self-reliant defense strategies based on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets by 2012 are slim.
During the forum, Vershbow expressed high hopes that the Seoul-Washington alliance will be further developed during the Lee government, saying the strong alliance will serve as a backbone for South Korea's economic growth.
``The arrival of a new administration is always a good time to reassess what is the purpose of our alliance and define the broader vision for the coming years,'' said the envoy.
Vershbow was optimistic about North Korea's denuclearization efforts under the Feb. 13 deal with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
Under the pact, North Korea is required to provide a complete list of all its nuclear programs, weapons and equipment that will be subject to dismantlement.
The North has begun disabling its main nuclear facilities as part of the first phase of the pact.
The U.S. government wants to complete the denuclearization process by the end of next year during the incumbent Bush administration, said Vershbow.
He said North Korea's fulfillment of the nuclear deal is a key to the regime's removal from a U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring states.
Pyongyang was put on the list in 1988 after its agents blew up a South Korean passenger airplane, killing all 115 people aboard.