Allies differ over OPCON transfer, defense cost-sharing

Defense Minister Suh Wook and his U.S. counterpart Mark Esper attend a ceremony to lay flowers at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

By Kang Seung-woo

The latest ministerial defense talks between South Korea and the United States have highlighted that the allies are not on the same page on the planned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul, and defense cost-sharing for American troops stationed here.

The disagreement occurred during the 52nd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, where Defense Minister Suh Wook met with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

South Korea is seeking to regain wartime OPCON of Korean troops from the U.S. by 2022, based on previous agreements that the transition will be made in accordance with the meeting of preconditions, without setting a deadline. To this end, the allies have been utilizing a three-phase verification process of initial operational capability (IOC), full operational capability (FOC) and full mission capability (FMC). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they failed to fully assess the FOC this year.

“South Korea will make utmost efforts to meet the OPCON preconditions as early as possible and ensure that South Korea-led combined defense posture remains strong and seamless,” Suh said.

However, Esper stressed the need for South Korea to acquire the capabilities necessary to meet the requirements.

“Fully meeting all the conditions for the transition of operational control to a ROK commander will take time, but the process of doing so will strengthen our alliance,” Esper said. ROK refers to the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.

Those preconditions include the acquisition of necessary military capabilities for a South Korea-led combined defense, the securing of critical military response capabilities by the South to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in the larger Northeast Asia region.

However, the joint communique released after their meeting said the two top defense officials reaffirmed that the prerequisites stated in the mutually agreed conditions-based OPCON transition plan (COTP) must be fully met before the wartime OPCON is transitioned to the future Combined Forces Command.

“The Secretary and the Minister also affirmed the necessity to cooperate closely to strengthen the Alliance's combined defense capabilities and committed to continue efforts to meet the conditions for transition through a joint study on bridging and enduring capabilities,” it said.

Another contentious topic between the two defense chiefs was Seoul's financial contribution to the stationing of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The two nations have yet to finalize the negotiations on the cost-sharing for over a year due to President Donald Trump's demand for a 50-percent increase in the South's share from last year, or $1.3 billion (1.49 trillion won). Korea is maintaining its proposal of a 13 percent increase from the previous cost-sharing accord of $860 million.

In that respect, Esper pressured Suh for a more “equitable” sharing of costs to keep U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula.

“We must find a more equitable means of sharing the costs of our common defense, so it doesn't fall unequally on the American taxpayers,” he said. “I hope we will all agree on the necessity of reaching a Special Measures Agreement (SMA) as soon as possible to ensure the stable stationing of U.S. forces on the Korean peninsula.”

The SMA determines Korea's cost-sharing for the USFK.

Esper's remarks came as Trump is said to have unofficially mentioned withdrawing American troops from South Korea, seen as a bargaining chip in the SMA talks. In addition, this year's SCM joint communique failed to refer to the U.S.' commitment to maintaining its troop levels.

However, the Korean defense ministry denied speculation over a U.S. troop cut.

“The failure does not carry significance as the joint communique stipulates that the two leaders were committed to ensure that the alliance deterrence posture remains credible, capable and enduring,” a ministry official said.

Suh and Esper had been scheduled to hold a joint news conference after the meeting, but the U.S. canceled it at the last minute, raising speculation that it could be because of wide differences between the two sides on bilateral pending issues.

But the ministry denied the speculation, adding the U.S. side asked for the cancellation for its own reasons.