▲ This file photo, taken July 6, 2023, shows U.S. troops attending a ceremony in a U.S. base in Dongducheon, some 40 kilometers north of Seoul. (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) USFK-OPCON transition

(2nd LD) S. Korea says U.S. made no proposal to change combined command structure after OPCON transfer

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; REVISES quote in para 4; ADDS details in paras 2, 7; RESTRUCTURES; TRIMS)

By Song Sang-ho and Kim Seung-yeon

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has received no proposal from the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to change their agreement on maintaining the combined command structure after Seoul retakes wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday.

The ministry issued the comments after the Chosun Ilbo daily reported the USFK has conveyed concerns to Seoul that rushing the OPCON transition without fully meeting military requirements for the transfer would make it difficult for the U.S. troops to operate under a South Korean general's command, which the report said may lead to a dissolution of the allies' Combined Forces Command.

"South Korea and the U.S. will retain the current Combined Forces Command structure after the OPCON transfer to maintain a robust combined defense posture," the defense ministry said.

According to the ministry, the allies reached an agreement in 2018 to establish a "Future Combined Forces Command," similar to the current combined command system, after the OPCON transition is complete.

"The USFK has never mentioned any proposal to our military on altering the existing arrangement," it said.

In a regular press briefing, ministry spokesperson Chung Binna dismissed the news report as "baseless," voicing strong regret over the report that she said undermines the bilateral alliance with the United States.

Seoul has repeatedly voiced a need to retake wartime OPCON at an early date, possibly before the end of 2028, as President Lee Jae Myung's administration seeks to complete the OPCON transfer before its single five-year term ends in 2030.

However, USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing last month that the two allies aim to meet the conditions by no later than the first quarter of 2029, prompting concerns over a possible gap between the allies over the timing of the transfer.

The allies have been working on the conditions-based OPCON transition since they agreed on it in October 2014. The conditions include South Korea's capabilities to lead combined Korea-U.S. forces, its strike and air defense capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover.

The newspaper report said the USFK delivered concerns over Seoul rushing with the OPCON transition to U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby when he visited Seoul in January, and also to the South Korean side later.

An USFK official reaffirmed the countries' commitment to a conditions-based OPCON transfer while offering no direct response to the report when asked by Yonhap.

"The U.S.-ROK alliance is committed to a conditions-based transition of wartime operational control, and that commitment is unchanged," the official said. ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

"Our focus remains on strengthening the combined defense and ensuring the defense of the Republic of Korea and the U.S. homelands."

South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was then transferred to the allies' Combined Forces Command when the command was launched in 1978.

Seoul retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON still remains in the U.S.' hands.

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