Korea properly should have wartime command over its military. It cannot be called a truly sovereign nation when the situation where the president's command authority is infringed on by the wartime command of the US-Korea combined forces, is allowed to continue. It was unconstitutional when in July 1950, immediately after the start of the Korean war broke out, president Rhee Syngman signed over authority of the Korean military to the United Nations commander. The demand that Korea have command returned to it was brought up when it was handed over to the commander of US-Korea combined forces, but that process has been put off because of resistance by the US.
There are many other reasons why wartime command should be returned to Korea. A typical reason would be that the dynamics of Northeast Asian relations are changing fast. The US is trying to change the character of its forces in Korea to be a mobile force covering Northeast Asia, Japan and China are strengthening their militaries, the US and Japan's Self Defense Forces are moving to work as a single unit, and there are other changes in the security environment to which the Korean military cannot respond when tied to the US military.
In addition, the effort to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue is making progress, so the establishment of a structure of peace on the Korean peninsula is a task for the near future. That will inevitably call for military reductions, and taking a leading role in that will require that Korea has wartime operational command.
Granted, getting back that authority after it has been with the US for 55 years will is not a simple thing. There needs to be ample discussion with the US and we need to look to see if we are prepared for it. There would be no reason for the process not to pick up speed if there is the commonly held understanding that returning wartime command to Korea becomes the basis for establishing a healthy US-Korean alliance for the 21st century.
The Hankyoreh, 12 October 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
