An Kyu-baek Departs for U.S.: "No Issues with Accelerating OPCON Transfer"

Focus on Bridging the Perception Gap with the U.S. Over Timeline

Defense Minister An Kyu-baek, who is visiting the United States, stated on May 10 that the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) has been prepared in a "systematic, stable, and consistent manner," adding, "I believe there is no significant problem in accelerating the OPCON transition."

Defense Minister An Kyu-baek, who is visiting the United States, is moving to the departure area of Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport on the 10th. Photo by Yonhap News

Before departing from Incheon International Airport on the same day, Minister An told reporters, "Authorities from South Korea and the United States made significant progress based on a conditions-based agreement regarding OPCON transition in 2015." He explained that, at the 47th South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in 2015, the two countries agreed on the Conditions-based OPCON Transition Plan (COTP) and have since been pursuing the OPCON transition accordingly.

The government is known to be working to complete the verification of Full Operational Capability (FOC) for the Future Combined Forces Command, which is the second stage of the evaluation and verification process for OPCON transition, within this year. It is also pushing to set "2028" as the target year for the transition at the upcoming SCM in October.

However, a subtle difference in perspective has emerged between the two countries after Gen. J.B. Brunsen, Commander of U.S. Forces Korea, mentioned during a U.S. congressional hearing that the target date for meeting the transition conditions would be "the first quarter of 2029." Minister An noted that during last year’s 57th SCM, both sides agreed to finalize the target year for transition at the end-of-year SCM, saying, "This is one of the key issues during this (U.S.) visit."

Another major agenda item is "cooperation in the construction of nuclear-powered submarines." Minister An said, "Since this is a matter agreed upon by both heads of state as a major premise, it is extremely important to implement the follow-up measures." He added, "I plan to discuss again the fulfillment of promises and mutual cooperation between South Korea and the United States to achieve this." When asked if the first round of negotiations could begin within the first half of the year, he replied, "Of course," stressing, "No matter what difficulties arise, this is an issue that must be resolved between the military authorities of both countries."

He also said, "So far, South Korea and the United States have not encountered major problems in fulfilling promises and following procedures, regardless of the issues or challenges." He added, "If the U.S. side provides some support for fuel, there will be no major obstacles in proceeding with that (construction) process."

Despite the agreement between the two leaders on nuclear submarine cooperation, there have been observations that progress has been delayed due to economic and trade issues, such as the Coupang issue, being intertwined with this matter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.