S. Korea, US to Shift to Joint Defense System in Wartime Command

SEOUL, Aug 8 Asia Pulse - South Korea and the United States will create a joint defense system in place of the existing combined forces command when South Korea regains wartime operational control of its military, a top South Korean defense official said Monday.

"A new cooperative system will be established. South Korea will take charge of defense with the U.S. supporting it," Kwon An-do, assistant minister for policy at the Defense Ministry, said in a local radio program.

The new system will operate a body to address joint military operations during both peacetime and wartime, and it will be designed to be stronger than the U.S.-Japan alliance model, he said.

South Korea voluntarily put the operational control of its military under the American-led U.N. Command (UNC) shortly after the three-year Korean War broke out in 1950. It regained peacetime control of its forces in 1994, but wartime operational control remains in the hands of the top U.S. commander here.

Since October last year, the two allies have been reviewing a proposal to create separate command systems in place of their Combined Forces Command (CFC), as they are in favor of running two separate operational commands that they believe can better suit the needs of the two countries.

The CFC was created in November 1978 and took over wartime control rights from the UNC. They are both under the control of the top U.S. commander here.

South Korea and the U.S. have almost finalized joint studies on the terms of a new alliance, with a focus on South Korea's greater role in its military operations. The final results will be unveiled at an annual meeting in Washington of South Korean and U.S. defense ministers in October, called the Security Consultative Meeting.

So far, Seoul and Washington have agreed to maintain the U.S.-led UNC on the Korean Peninsula despite the planned dismantlement of the CFC. A 1953 mutual defense treaty between the two sides would guarantee the continued presence of U.S. troops as well as the present level of deterrent capabilities, according to South Korean officials.

Even after South Korea takes over the wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S. and runs a separate command, the two sides will continue to operate high-level communication channels such as the annual defense chiefs' Security Consultative Meeting.

North Korea frequently demands the dismantlement of the UNC, saying it poses a challenge to the unification of the two Koreas and that the U.S. formed the organization without proper authorization from the United Nations over five decades ago.

During the Korean War over five decades ago, the U.S. and 15 other countries fought alongside South Korea under the U.N. flag against the invading North.

The conflict ended with an armistice between the UNC, North Korea and its main ally China. South Korea is not a signatory to the treaty. The two Koreas are still technically in a state of war due to the absence of a peace treaty.

South Korea hopes to replace the 1953 armistice treaty with a permanent peace regime, but negotiations with North Korea have yet to materialize amid its prolonged boycott of international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program.

Nevertheless, South Korea and the U.S. have yet to settle remaining differences over the timeline of, and roadmap for, the transfer of wartime operational control.

The U.S. has proposed returning the wartime operational control of troops to South Korea by 2009, citing the latter's improved defense capabilities, while South Korea hopes to take over the wartime command after 2011.

"(The three-year difference) is a very critical issue. The U.S. seems to think that it will be problematic if it takes too long after the two sides agree on the handover," Kwon said.

Kwon also dismissed concern about the country's plan to take over wartime control of its forces from the U.S., saying it will contribute to securing stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in Northeast Asia.

Currently, about 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War. The U.S. plans to cut the number to 25,000 by 2008.

The Seoul-Washington alliance has faced fundamental changes in recent years, as South Korea demands a greater role in its military operations to reduce its 680,000-strong military's dependence on the U.S. military.

The U.S., for its part, has also begun transforming its fixed military bases in South Korea into more mobile, streamlined forces as part of its global troop-realignment plan.

(Yonhap)

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