Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Korean article.
The United States has reiterated that wartime operational control, or OPCON, of allied forces on the Korean Peninsula will transition to South Korea only after mutually agreed conditions are met, despite renewed calls from Seoul to accelerate the process.
“The transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) remains a conditions-based process mutually agreed upon by the United States and the Republic of Korea,” a U.S. Department of Defense official told VOA on Monday, speaking on background.
“Both nations remain committed to ensuring that the necessary conditions are met before any transition occurs,” the official said. “We will not prejudge decisions or outcomes of this bilateral process.”
Wartime OPCON refers to the authority to direct military operations during a conflict.
Under the current U.S.-South Korea combined defense structure, a U.S. general serves as commander of the Combined Forces Command, which would oversee allied military operations in wartime. CFC was established in 1978 with a goal to "deter, or defeat if necessary, outside aggression against" South Korea. It unified U.S. and South Korean forces under a single war-fighting command.
Although South Korea regained peacetime OPCON in 1994, plans to transfer wartime OPCON were repeatedly postponed before the allies adopted a conditions-based approach in 2014, leaving the timing of the transition undecided.
The comments come as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pushes for a faster transition of wartime command authority.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Lee said South Korea should “swiftly” regain wartime OPCON, arguing that the country possesses sufficient military capabilities to assume greater responsibility for its own defense. According to South Korean media reports, Lee suggested that “regaining” or “restoring” wartime OPCON would be more appropriate terms than “transferring” it.
The issue gained renewed attention last week after Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said the conditions surrounding the transition had evolved since the allies established their original framework.
“Because the conditions have changed, because we’ve changed our plan, we have new standards which we have to uphold,” Brunson said at a policy forum in Washington, citing an evolving security environment that includes North Korea’s continued weapons development and recent missile activities.
The Pentagon did not say whether the formal criteria for the transition had been revised.
The two allies have agreed to a conditions-based process that includes assessments of South Korea’s military capabilities and its ability to lead combined operations. While the Lee administration has expressed interest in completing the transition before the end of its term in 2030, Washington and Seoul have not publicly announced a target date.
Patrick Cronin, chair for Asia-Pacific security at the Hudson Institute, told VOA earlier this year that the OPCON transition carries both political and military significance.
Politically, the transition symbolizes “regaining full sovereignty” for many South Koreans, Cronin said. Militarily, however, he argued that the focus should remain on how the change would affect deterrence and the alliance’s ability to respond effectively to regional threats.
Sungwon Baik from VOA's Korean service contributed to this report.