Seoul, Washington hold regular defense dialogue
The flags of Republic of Korea, right, and the U.S. / Getty Images Bank
By Jung Da-min
The Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense are holding the 15th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue at the Pentagon in Virginia, near Washington D.C.
Attendees at the biannual meeting from Tuesday to Wednesday (local time) include key defense and foreign affairs officials, respectively led by Chung Suk-hwan, deputy minister for national defense policy, and David Helvey, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs at the U.S. defense department.
A comprehensive security assessment following the April 11 summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump topped the agenda, while denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the transfer of war-time operation control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul were also included. The earlier plan for the OPCON transfer by 2012 signed by the allies has been repeatedly postponed since the 2010 sinking of ROK Navy frigate Cheonan by North Korea.
Ahead of the two-day dialogue, the defense ministry said the two sides would explore ways to deepen defense cooperation.
On April 1, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan held their first face-to-face meeting at the Pentagon.
During the high-level meeting, they also discussed the OPCON transfer, confirming the two sides had launched a special committee to move this forward.
Established in March, the Special Permanent Military Committee is led by ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Park Han-ki and U.S. Forces Korea Commander Robert Abrams.