USFK to station here after OPCON transfer: minister

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, right, welcomes South Korean National Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo during a full honor arrival at the Pentagon Oct. 31, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. Defense Minister Jeong was at the Pentagon to attend the 50th annual ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting. AFP-Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) will continue to be stationed here even after South Korea regains wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from the U.S. military.

Defense chiefs from Seoul and Washington agreed on this at their Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Wednesday (local time) as well as the transfer of the leadership of the United Nations Command (UNC) to a South Korean general.

The two sides also reached a broad roadmap over how to maintain the USFK after the OPCON transfer they said on the sidelines of the annual defense minister's talks.

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Washington counterpart Jim Mattis came to terms on eight clauses outlining the post-OPCON transfer defense situation in South Korea.

The clauses included the bilateral pledge that the USFK will remain here after the transfer.

South Korean National Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo reviews troops during a full honor arrival at the Pentagon October 31, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. AFP-Yonhap

Seoul and Washington also reached a consensus to put a South Korean four-star general in charge of the UNC ― so far, a U.S. general has held the position.

The agreement is significant in that the two sides have finalized the change in UNC leadership in writing ― an issue that has been discussed since 2013.

“Both countries have made huge contributions to the development of the Seoul-Washington defense alliance over five decades since the two countries held the first SCM in 1968,” a defense ministry official said.

The 50th SCM came at a time when the peninsula is seeing apparent rapid reconciliation due to rare peace gestures from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Despite this, the defense ministers from Seoul and Washington reaffirmed their determination to continue to tighten their countries respective defense postures.