South Korea, US in Close Talks on Wartime Command Transfer Amid Senate Bill

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea remains in close talks with the United States over the wartime operational control (OPCON) transition, a defense ministry official said Friday, following a U.S. Senate bill signaling tighter congressional oversight.

The U.S. Senate proposed a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act to require the U.S. defense secretary to provide regular reports to Congress on a road map for Washington's OPCON transfer to Seoul.

The move came amid what appears to be a widening gap between Seoul and Washington over the timeline of the OPCON transfer. Seoul seeks to retake the wartime command from its ally before President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term ends in 2030, or even sooner, possibly before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029.

U.S. Forces Korea Commander (USFK) Gen. Xavier Brunson earlier said he submitted a road map aimed at meeting the conditions for the OPCON transition by the first quarter of 2029.

"South Korea and the U.S. remain in close talks on the OPCON transfer, based on the shared understanding that the transition will further bolster our combined defense posture on the Korean Peninsula," a defense ministry official said.

"We have been actively communicating our position to the U.S. Congress and we will continue to do so," the official said, declining to comment further given that the legislation is still under discussion.

The bill stipulates the Pentagon chief should submit a report on the roadmap for the implementation of the conditions-based OPCON transition to relevant committees of Congress every 90 days, starting no later than March 1 next year, through 2030.

The report should include an assessment by the U.S. Pacific Command commander and the USFK commander on the conditions that must be achieved before the OPCON transition, as agreed to by both sides in 2018.

The move would effectively give a regular platform to weigh in with Congress to the USFK commander, who has used his nuanced remarks to signal concern over Seoul's apparent rush to fast-track the transition.

Under the three-stage OPCON transition process, the allies are undergoing the second phase to verify the combined forces' "full operational capability" (FOC) required for the transfer.

South Korea wants to complete the FOC certification and set the target year for the OPCON transition by this fall, when the key bilateral security meeting between the top defense chiefs will take place.

Following a meeting with U.S. lawmakers at last month's Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said he had asked for bipartisan support for the OPCON transition.

"I fully briefed (the lawmakers) on our capabilities, including the fact that South Korea and the U.S. have agreed that 94 percent of the OPCON transfer conditions have been met," Ahn told reporters in Singapore.