Meetings on OPCON transfer and senior commanders held back to back

'An army that cannot decide for itself cannot become a strong one'

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek [Yonhap]
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek [Yonhap]

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek said he will again push to report a target year — referred to as "Year X" — for transferring wartime operational control to South Korea to the presidents of both countries by the end of this year, based on consultations between the two defense ministers.

Speaking at a meeting of senior commanders from all branches of the military Tuesday, Ahn said, "An army that cannot make its own decisions cannot become a strong one." He urged the military to complete verification of full operational capability at this year's Security Consultative Meeting and do its utmost so that Year X for recovering operational control can be reported. Immediately before the commanders' meeting, Ahn also chaired a separate review session on the progress of the operational control transfer.

"Recovering operational control goes beyond the label of self-reliant defense — it is the path to building a stronger South Korea and taking the South Korea-US alliance to the next level," he said. "Once we recover operational control, our military will take full command of everything from wartime planning and operational design to execution, and that will unleash the capabilities and potential our forces have built up over the years."

The Lee Jae Myung administration is pursuing the transfer of operational control within its term as a national policy priority. President Lee said at the G7 summit in June, where he met with US President Donald Trump, that he deliberately avoided raising the issue, explaining: "If we are taking responsibility for our own defense ourselves, there is no need to bring up why the United States still holds operational control."

The US position, however, remains a variable. Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, recently told the US House of Representatives that Washington understands Seoul's desire to complete the transfer as quickly as possible and is focused on meeting the necessary conditions promptly, but left the door open by saying "discussions are ongoing regarding the exact timing."

The Senate Armed Services Committee also passed the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act last month, which would require the US defense secretary to submit a report to the relevant standing committee every 90 days — from March 1, 2027, through 2030 — on a joint South Korea-US roadmap for implementing the operational control transfer plan.


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