 |
Issue will only be ’touched on,’ Blue House official says
A high-ranking official in the presidential office said on Sept. 4 that South Korea and the United States will discuss the wartime operational control issue at the upcoming summit talks between the two nations. However, the official said that it was not a subject on which the political sphere would compromise.
"[The issue] has been and should be dealt with by military officials from both sides," chief presidential security advisor, Song Min-soon, who is accompanying President Roh Moo-hyun on his tour of Europe and the United States, told reporters in Greece.
South Korea and the United States have been in negotiations on the transfer of wartime operational command. Seoul wants to take back the authority by 2012 and Washington is sticking to the timetable of 2009.
"The heads of the two countries will touch on the issue, but will not elaborate on it," Song added.
President Roh is set to have summit talks with U.S. President George W. Bush on Sept. 14 in Washington. Greece is the first leg of President Roh’s two-week trip. He had talks with his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias to discuss ways of enhancing bilateral ties. Song said that he will leave for the United States on Sept. 5, earlier than the president, to set the tone for the summit by meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. Asked whether his early departure to the United States is due to a disagreement on the agenda of discussion items between the two leaders, Song said it is customary to have talks between staff members one or two weeks before a summit, but so far he has failed to find time to do so because of the vacation schedules of his U.S. counterparts.
