As usual the journalist omits the key part of the mythical OPCON transfer."
South Korea was slated to regain the OPCON in December next year, but earlier this year, Seoul asked the U.S. to reconsider the process, citing rising threats from North Korea.
However, some U.S. politicians are opposed to South Korea’s request for another push-back, saying that the East Asian country is attempting to “free-ride” on U.S. security guarantees without doing much to boost its own defense capabilities. |
There is no real OPCON transfer. There is the dissolution of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command. That is what is slated to occur in 2015.
US politicians who are opposed to maintaining the ROK/US Combined Forces Command because they think the ROK "is attempting to "free ride" on US security guarantees without doing much to boots its own defenses" might want to 1) examine US interests in Northeast Asia and Asia writ large and 2) ask for an assessment on how to organize the military instruments of power of the Alliance to protect those US interests. However, with all due respect to"some US politicians" I find comments like that disrespectful, disingenuous
V/R
Dave
'Talks over OPCON transition to speed up'
By Kang Seung-woo
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/
Kim Jang-soo, chief of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, arrived in Washington for consultations with White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice on North Korea and South Korean-U.S. alliance issues during his four-day trip. “The OPCON issue will be addressed in my consultations with the U.S. side. Since there is an agreement made at the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), there could be some discussions to facilitate it,” Kim told reporters. Earlier this month, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel held discussions on the matter during the annual military meeting in Seoul, during which both sides agreed to reach a final decision in the first half of next year. South Korea was slated to regain the OPCON in December next year, but earlier this year, Seoul asked the U.S. to reconsider the process, citing rising threats from North Korea. However, some U.S. politicians are opposed to South Korea’s request for another push-back, saying that the East Asian country is attempting to “free-ride” on U.S. security guarantees without doing much to boost its own defense capabilities. In view of this growing sentiment, Kim said: “There are both positive and negative reactions and I do not believe everyone is opposed to a postponement.” The OPCON transfer has been an ongoing hot-button issue for years. The transfer of responsibility was initially supposed to happen in April, 2012, but this was pushed back to December 2015 following the sinking of the South’s frigate Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo in March 2010.
(Continued at the link below)
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