Ex-national security adviser calls for early return of wartime operational control from US

Former National Security Adviser Chun Yung-woo / Yonhap

Chun Yung-woo, a former national security adviser, on Wednesday called for the early transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of Korean troops from the United States to Korea, stressing the need for the South's armed forces to strengthen their independent defense capabilities.

Chun, who served as national security adviser to former conservative President Lee Myung-bak, made the remarks in his keynote speech at a symposium hosted by the Korean Peninsula Future Forum, which he founded and leads.

"It is more important to regain it as soon as possible and strengthen the Korean armed forces' sense of ownership, even though their operational command capabilities still remain insufficient," Chun said, proposing the early return of OPCON.

"It wouldn't be good to keep postponing" the transfer, he noted.

During a parliamentary confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Defense Minister nominee Ahn Gyu-back suggested that the Lee Jae Myung government aims to retrieve OPCON of Korean troops within his five-year term, although Lee's office later described Ahn's remarks as his personal opinion.

In 2006, the administration of then liberal President Roh Moo-hyun agreed with the U.S. to transfer OPCON back to Korea in April 2012. The planned transfer was postponed once to December 2015 under the subsequent Lee Myung-bak administration, and, later, the following Park Geun-hye administration reached an agreement with Washington to indefinitely postpone it until conditions are met.

Chun also warned of the risks of Korea's dual diplomacy aimed at maintaining close relations with both the United States and China, saying it could backfire and create misgivings on both sides.

"It may seem like a kind of blessing to receive competing calls from both the U.S. and China, but (Korea) could instead find itself misunderstood by both sides and in hot water if it takes ambiguous positions to avoid provoking either," he said.

Chun was referring to Korea's long-standing diplomatic approach of balancing its relations with the two world powers by aligning closely with Washington on security while relying on China for trade.

He pointed to years of economic retaliation by China over the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) on Korea, saying the move taught Korea how "complacent and dangerous" such a dual policy can be.

"If there's a way Korea can get along with China without sacrificing its relations with the U.S., it should definitely take that path, but it's easier said than done," he noted.

To tackle the issue, Chun proposed reducing Korea's "excessive" reliance on China for its economy by diversifying its sourcing channels for "strategic items" away from China and boosting its competitiveness in major technologies and trade items crucial to the Chinese economy.

"When it comes to survival, (Korea) should prepare itself with the Korea-U.S. alliance as its primary insurance and supplement it with Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation as secondary insurance while also working with like-minded countries that share similar threat perceptions," he noted.