US Defense Official: "Transfer of Wartime Operational Control Will Take Time"... Virtually Impossible Under Current Administration

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated on the 18th that "it will take more time to meet the conditions" regarding the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON).

Secretary Austin made these remarks during his opening statement at the joint press conference of the South Korea-U.S. Foreign and Defense Ministers' Meeting (2+2 Meeting) held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Doryeom-dong, Seoul, in the morning. While he assessed that "progress is being made in the OPCON transfer," he also said this. He added, "I believe the alliance will be strengthened through the OPCON transfer process."

The government has focused on one of the three major conditions, "equipping the South Korean military with core military capabilities," in accordance with President Moon Jae-in's pledge to transfer OPCON "within his term (by May 2022)." Accordingly, a three-stage evaluation of "Initial Operational Capability (IOC) → Full Operational Capability (FOC) → Full Mission Capability (FMC)" has been conducted to verify the capabilities of the future combined command led by the South Korean military, timed with the annual South Korea-U.S. joint exercises. The government had already pledged the OPCON transfer timing as "within the term, 2022," but later revised it to "early implementation." However, there are forecasts that the OPCON transfer within the Moon Jae-in administration's term has effectively been canceled.

This year's first half South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, which ended on this day, did not effectively conduct verification work, such as outdoor maneuver training, due to COVID-19. It is also known that during this year's first half exercises, South Korean personnel used the command post inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The Joint Chiefs of Staff personnel did not move to the B1 bunker inside the Capital Defense Command, which they used every time during the South Korea-U.S. exercises, as a measure to prevent COVID-19 infection. However, some pointed out that not conducting training at the optimal location assuming wartime situations could cause various problems.

The South Korea-U.S. announced the results of the defense ministers' talks held the day before, stating that they "reconfirmed the OPCON transfer plan based on conditions." Furthermore, both countries directly evaluated the first half exercises as "successfully and smoothly conducted," but did not mention whether verification work for the OPCON transfer was carried out. Especially, emphasizing the "OPCON transfer plan based on conditions" is interpreted as indicating that thorough verification must be conducted for the OPCON transfer to be possible. It is known that the South Korean side hoped to include the expression "accelerating OPCON transfer" in the meeting press release, but it was not included.

South Korea and the U.S. also did not mention whether there is a verification plan for the OPCON transfer in the second half combined exercises. If the COVID-19 situation does not improve, the possibility of not conducting verification increases, which is why there are forecasts that further delays in the OPCON transfer process are inevitable.

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