South Korea Defense Chief Says OPCON Transfer Will Begin in 2019
I think this whole OPCON issue, just like the US-ROK cost sharing talks are all linked back to whatever the final outcome of the US and North Korea denuclearization talks are. Depending how that plays out the OPCON and cost sharing talks will get worked out as well:
South Korea’s defense chief on Thursday said the coming year will be a starting point for the test of the country’s ability to command its own troops in the event of a war.
Yonhap
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo made the remark as he presided over a meeting to assess the preparations for the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States.
South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. command during the Korean War. It retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON remains in the hands of the United States.
Not that I care, but this will be a clown show. South Korean military has had its hand held for so long it couldn’t organize an ice cream social.
With OPCON Transfer CFC goes away. No US service member should be under a ROK commander. Unfortunately the US is UNC. Past time for US to move out smartly and let the two Koreas work it out.