Defense chiefs of S. Korea, U.S. hold talks on OPCON transfer, alliance

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States met in the Philippines on Wednesday for talks likely centered on narrowing differences over the timing of the wartime operational control (OPCON) transition from Washington to Seoul, among other alliance issues.

The talks between Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took place in Cebu, the venue for the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) Plus, led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to Seoul's defense ministry.

It marked their first one-on-one meeting since Kang took office in September.

Further details of their meeting were expected to be released later in the day.

Wednesday's talks have drawn attention as Seoul seeks to regain wartime OPCON before the Lee Jae Myung administration's five-year term ends in 2030. It is pushing to announce a target year for the OPCON transfer at the upcoming high-level defense dialogue, the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM).

Washington, however, has expressed reservations about rushing the process for political reasons, emphasizing the conditions agreed upon by the allies must be fully met. Chief among them is for Seoul to possess core capabilities to lead combined forces once the handover occurs.

The allies are currently in the process of verifying the "full operational capability" (FOC) of South Korean forces, the second stage of a three-phase, "conditions-based" OPCON transition plan.

While Seoul officials say those requirements have been met, the U.S. maintains that they have yet to be fulfilled, with U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson recently stating that "conditions have changed" and that there were "new standards" to uphold.

Speaking to reporters before his departure Tuesday, Kang said he would closely consult with his U.S. counterpart on the OPCON transfer and other alliance issues, including addressing the gap over the FOC verification if needed.

The apparent divide over the OPCON transition has fueled speculation that the next SCM talks could be pushed back to early next year.

This year's SCM, which usually takes place in late October or early November, has already been delayed to December.

At Wednesday's talks, Kang and Hegseth were also expected to discuss other alliance issues, including Seoul's push to build nuclear-powered submarine program backed by Washington.

South Korea launched the Jang Bogo N project in May to build at least three such 8,000-ton vessels by the late 2030s, after the Donald Trump administration gave the green light for its push following a summit between their leaders in October last year.

While in the Philippines, Kang was also set to hold a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts of other participating countries, the defense ministry said earlier.

Kang is scheduled to speak at the ADMM Plus plenary Thursday, during which he plans to address the illegitimate nature of North Korea's recent land mine explosion near the inter-Korean border and Seoul's peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, the ministry said.

elly@yna.co.kr
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