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A U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer makes a call at Busan port on July 18.
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Command transfer timeline still unclear
"After Seoul regains wartime operational control over its troops, a joint defense system will replace the current Combined Forces Command," said Kwon An-do, vice defense minister for policy, during an interview with a South Korean radio program yesterday.
Under the joint defense system, Kwon said, "South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will command their respective troops. The Korean forces will play a main role in its defense and the USFK will support them."
Under the new structure, the two nations will still maintain high-level communications channels, such as the Military Committee (MC) meeting and the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) between the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kwon added. Accordingly, after transfer of wartime operational control over the troops, the MC is expected to play a role as an ad hoc body dealing with joint military operations during both peacetime and wartime, under an ’independent command’ system between South Korea’s JCS and the USFK command.
Earlier than this, USFK commander Gen. Burwell Bell called it undesirable for Seoul and Washington to dismantle the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command before they form independent commands.
Given that Seoul has set the target year for command transfer at 2012, while Washington wants to hand it over by 2009, Kwon noted, "[This gap of three years] is very important. Considering a number of factors, such as South Korea’s capacity, the USFK’s conditions, relocation of the Yongsan garrison, and the security situation on the Korean peninsula, the two nations have agreed to make decisions [on the matter] carefully."
In the meantime, some former defense ministers sharing concerns over the issue planned to meet yesterday to issue a related statement, but the meeting has been delayed. No details on the reason behind the delay were available.
