(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Hyo-jung and Jeon Myeong-hoon = The ROK and U.S. defense ministers held a bilateral meeting in Washington in December of this year, and based on this, agreed to hold the ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), an annual ministerial-level security consultative body between the two countries, early next year.
The Ministry of National Defense announced that Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-cheol met with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Cebu, Philippines on the 28th and agreed that "the successful hosting of the historic 58th SCM is important."
At the meeting on this day, Minister Hegseth reaffirmed the United States' commitment to the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), and the two ministers agreed to work closely to ensure that the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) is carried out smoothly and in a timely manner.
Minister Kang emphasized that the ROK-US alliance has served as a key axis of peace and prosperity in the region for the past 70 years.
Minister Kang also expressed his position, saying, “I hope to further develop the ROK-U.S. alliance into a future-oriented comprehensive strategic alliance based on the solid trust between ROK and the U.S. and the will to ‘fight together.’”
In response, Minister Hegseth responded that he hopes to strengthen cooperation between defense authorities while the ROK and the United States maintain a strong joint defense posture, the Ministry of National Defense said.
SCM is an annual consultative body where the ROK and U.S. defense ministers discuss defense issues of both countries, including OPCON and extended deterrence. The government has been pursuing a plan to complete the verification of the Future Combined Forces Command's Full Operational Capability (FOC) at the next 58th SCM and derive the OPCON transfer year (Year X). Typically, in SCM, a joint statement is announced as a result of negotiations between Korea and the United States.
It is unusual for the defense ministers of the two countries to hold a separate bilateral meeting in Washington in December this year instead of moving the SCM to be held this year to early next year.
It is interpreted that the intention is to attempt final coordination at a high level through a December meeting between the defense chiefs of both countries in order to reach an agreement on wartime operational control, etc. in the SCM.
The Ministry of Defense's announcement on this day included an expression that South Korea and the United States agreed that 'the successful hosting of the historic 58th SCM is important', which is known to have confirmed the will to produce results at the SCM.
It is reported that differences of opinion still remain between South Korea and the United States, especially at the military authorities level, regarding whether the conditions necessary for FOC verification are met. The key question is whether these differences can be resolved through future political-level discussions.
A government source said, “There are no major differences of opinion between Korea and the United States,” and “It appears that differences in positions at the military level can be resolved through close consultation.”
However, some say that with the SCM not being held this year, the government's goal of early transfer of wartime operational control has become more difficult than before.
The government has believed that the evaluation and verification of the Future Combined Forces Command's Full Mission Capability (FMC), which is the next and final process after completing the FOC, can be completed in about a year. In this case, there have been observations that 2028, or next year at the earliest, could be proposed as the target year.
The fact that the Ministry of National Defense's announcement on this day included a statement that it would cooperate to achieve the transfer of wartime operational control at the "right time," which has a somewhat neutral nuance, rather than "early," is interpreted as taking into account the remaining differences of opinion between South Korea and the United States.
The joint statement of the 'Integrated Defense Consultative Body' (KIDD), a high-level meeting of the ROK-US defense authorities held last September, included strengthening cooperation to 'accelerate' the transfer of wartime operational control, but the expression 'acceleration' was omitted from the press release for the ROK-US defense ministers' meeting.
It is known that the US situation, such as the situation of the war with Iran, also had an influence on the SCM being moved to next year.
Minister Kang Shin-cheol met with reporters on his way out of the Ministry of National Defense building to leave the country the day before and said about the SCM schedule, "There are also circumstances on that side (the U.S.), so we need to listen to them."
Meanwhile, it is possible that the U.S. emphasized at this meeting the need for 'alliance modernization' to increase Korea's responsibility in the conventional defense of the Korean Peninsula. On this day, Minister Hegseth shared the news of the meeting with Minister Kang on his
This meeting took place on the occasion of the ASEAN Enlarged Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus), which both ministers attended.
This is the first time that Minister Kang, who took office on the 22nd of last month, met in person with Minister Hegseth. The meeting was originally scheduled for about 15 minutes, but actually lasted about 40 minutes, and it was reported that considerable discussion took place as it was conducted through simultaneous interpretation rather than sequential interpretation.
