Combined Forces Command should be audited: lawmaker
By Choi Ha-young
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Rep. Kim Joong-ro
The Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) should be audited annually by the National Assembly, Rep. Kim Joong-ro of the People’s Party claimed Thursday.
The Assembly National Defense Committee conducts audits on the Ministry of National Defense and its affiliated organizations annually. However, the CFC has never received an audit since it was established in 1978.
Rep. Kim, a former Army general, said he will draw up a bill within this year to enable the Assembly to inspect the command.
Kim, a member of the National Defense Committee, said the CFC is operated with taxpayers’ money and has South Korean personnel. However, the exact amount of resources invested in it and its expenditure are unknown, he said.
While the CFC has no communication channel with the Assembly, it frequently reports confidential affairs to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Pacific Command and the U.S. Congress.
Further, the lack of an audit makes it difficult to figure out how confidential documents about the South Korean military are handled, Rep. Kim noted in a press release.
In order to urge the CFC to open a channel with the Assembly, Rep. Kim summoned Gen. Kim Byeong-joo, deputy commander of the CFC to Thursday’s defense audit. The CFC is headed by Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea Gen. Vincent Brooks and the South Korean general as his second in command.
“A regular parliamentary inspection of the CFC is expected to prevent possible corruption and arbitrary decision making,” Rep. Kim said. “Checks and balances through legal measures are urgent for the CFC which uses South Korean soldiers and resources.”
Meanwhile, the CFC is supposed to be dissolved once the South Korean government retakes wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops in wartime from Washington. President Moon Jae-in promised to do this within his term when he was running for the presidency.
In place of the CFC, the defense ministry said it will map out a new ROK-U.S. command which will take effect after the OPCON transfer, in a report submitted for Thursday’s audit. The envisioned command will be endorsed at the ROK-U.S. Military Committee Meeting and Security Consultative Meeting slated for Oct. 27 and 28.