S. Korea Could Seek Review of OPCON Transfer
Original Post: S. Korea Could Seek Review of OPCON Transfer
Type: News Article
March 26, 2010 — A professor at the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College has projected that South Korea will ask Washington to review a plan to return wartime operational control to Seoul.
Bruce Bechtol made the projection during a symposium organized jointly by the Asia Foundation and the Mansfield Foundation in Washington on Thursday. Bechtol said Seoul’s request is likely to come this fall shortly after South Korea holds local elections. The transfer is scheduled to be complete by 2012.
Senior adviser for the Center for a New American Security, Patrick Cronin, also said that the South Korean government is expected to request for adjustments to the transfer plan during high-level talks, including bilateral talks between defense and foreign affairs ministers in June.
However, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, General Walter Sharp, is stressing that the transfer of wartime operational command will take place as scheduled by 2012.
Topic(s): Regional Security Challenges, Development and Diplomacy, U.S. Military Forces & Operations, U.S. National Security and Defense Policy
Project(s): Asia-Pacific Security
People: Dr. Patrick Cronin
