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By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday to implement a conditions-based approach to Seoul's takeover of wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from Washington.
The agreement was finalized at a security consultative meeting (SCM) between Defense Minister Han Min-koo and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in Washington.
The agreement means a delay in the current schedule for the transfer set for the end of 2015 as requested by Seoul.
Officials said the conditions-based approach means that Seoul will regain wartime OPCON when its military capabilities are secured, and the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in the region is conducive to a stable transition.
However, the two sides failed to determine the exact timing of the transfer, only stating "an appropriate date."
A senior official from the Ministry of National Defense noted that the transition could take place in mid-2020s as Minister Han told his U.S. counterpart that Seoul will seek to develop its own Kill Chain preemptive strike and Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) systems by that time.
"Those are critical military capabilities to better respond to nuclear and missile threats from North Korea," Han was quoted as saying by the official.
Seoul handed over both wartime and peacetime operational control of its armed forces to the U.S. in July 1950, a month after Pyongyang started the three-year-long Korean War. Seoul regained peacetime operational control in late 1994.
With the consensus on the delay of the transfer, the allies agreed to leave the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) at its present location ― the Yongsan U.S. Army Garrison in central Seoul ― until the transition is completed.
Han and Hagle also came to an agreement on leaving the 210th Armored Brigade of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division at its present location ― Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul ― until the ROK forces' counter-fire reinforcement plan is completed and certified.
The decision on the location of two units is expected to trigger repercussions in South Korea, given that the Yongsan Garrison and the 2nd Division were scheduled to move to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, by the end of 2016, according to the Yongsan Relocation Plan (YRP) and the Land Partnership Plan (LPP).
The two plans were ratified by the National Assembly in 2002.
The official explained, "The minimum number of necessary personnel and facilities will remain at Yongsan."
He added the armored brigade will be relocated to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek after South Korea completes the reinforcement of its counter-fire forces capable of executing missions during the early phases any war around 2020.
Mindful of the possible controversy, the allies' defense chiefs pledged to maintain the YRP and LPP and minimize challenges in order to strive for completion in a timely manner, according to officials.
During their annual meeting, Han and Hagle also decided to continue consulting on trilateral information sharing measures between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan as discussed at the Shangri-La Dialogue in May 2014.
