By Kim Rahn
U.S. forces will stay in South Korea and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) will not be disbanded even after Seoul takes over wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington, the defense minister said Tuesday.
The comment comes while the two countries are speeding up negotiations for the takeover of OPCON for South Korean troops.
“When the transfer issue emerged in 2006, there were concerns that the CFC would be disbanded and U.S. forces would leave the country,” Defense Minister Song Young-moo said in a lecture organized by the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy in Seoul.
“But we are seeking to ensure U.S. forces will not be withdrawn and the CFC will not be disbanded even after OPCON is transferred.”
Song’s remarks were slightly at odds with the ongoing talks between the two countries to create a new “future combined command” to replace the current CFC when Seoul regains OPCON.
Regarding this, a ministry official said, “Song means the current CFC system has many advantages, which could remain under the new command.”
Song also said President Moon Jae-in told him to have South Korea meet the conditions for OPCON transfer as early as possible, such as having its own military capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
“President Moon said (if such conditions are met) there would be no need to advance or delay the transfer deliberately,” Song said, adding he shares this view.
Song said he would push the development of a three-pronged defense system as soon as possible ― the Kill Chain pre-emptive defense, Korea Air and Missile Defense, and Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation systems.
“We’ll regain OPCON when we secure the systems and have enough capabilities,” the minister said.
South Korea was initially supposed to regain OPCON in April 2012 following a 2007 agreement during the late Roh Moo-hyun administration. But the transfer was delayed to 2015 following the sinking of the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan in a North Korean torpedo attack in March 2010. Moon’s predecessor, Park Geun-hye, then delayed the transfer until the 2020s.
But Moon pledged to advance the date during his presidential campaign, and he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on a condition-based early transfer during their first summit in June.
Song also introduced the idea of “offensive” military operations, which the ministry and the CFC are designing to change South Korea’s war plan from a defense-based one.
“So far we have had a war plan suitable for the 1950 Korean War, in which we focus on defense along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the South Korea-U.S. joint forces go north. But such war would take a long time and inflict huge damage,” he said, adding the country needs a new war paradigm.
“If North Korea fires long-range artillery at Seoul and its nearby metropolitan areas or attacks the South with nuclear weapons or missiles, we have to see this as the start of an all-out war,” he said.
In such a dangerous situation, South Korea has to shift its concept to an offensive one to totally destroy North Korea’s major targets in a short time by mobilizing the three-pronged system, he said.