Seoul Not Ready for OPCON Transfer But Wants It Anyway

The OPCON transfer request by the Moon administration has always been a political goal and not a military one, so whether the ROK military is ready or not is mostly irrelevant:

The latest ministerial defense talks between South Korea and the United States have highlighted that the allies are not on the same page on the planned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul, and defense cost-sharing for American troops stationed here.

The disagreement occurred during the 52nd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, where Defense Minister Suh Wook met with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper. 

South Korea is seeking to regain wartime OPCON of Korean troops from the U.S. by 2022, based on previous agreements that the transition will be made in accordance with the meeting of preconditions, without setting a deadline. To this end, the allies have been utilizing a three-phase verification process of initial operational capability (IOC), full operational capability (FOC) and full mission capability (FMC). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they failed to fully assess the FOC this year. 

“South Korea will make utmost efforts to meet the OPCON preconditions as early as possible and ensure that South Korea-led combined defense posture remains strong and seamless,” Suh said. 

However, Esper stressed the need for South Korea to acquire the capabilities necessary to meet the requirements.

“Fully meeting all the conditions for the transition of operational control to a ROK commander will take time, but the process of doing so will strengthen our alliance,” Esper said.

Korea Times

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