Defense Ministry says it is coordinating schedules with US side ahead of SCM; Brunson highlights MDTF deployment, draws line from Beijing to Seoul
Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of United States Forces Korea, said Tuesday (local time) that he fully supports transferring wartime operational control to South Korea once the agreed conditions are met — but added that timing itself is also a condition, and that he would warn of the risks if the US president or defense secretary ordered an immediate transfer.
Speaking at a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., Brunson was asked whether he would support setting a target year for the transfer at a future bilateral summit. "I fully support a conditions-based transfer of operational control. That's it," he said. "That is what the agreement says."
He said the joint communiqués from the 45th, 46th and 47th Military Committee Meetings (MCM) and Security Consultative Meetings (SCM) make clear that the process is conditions-based.
Brunson then said, "Timing is also a condition. That is not my decision to make."
"If the president or the Defense Secretary says do it right now, I'll say 'yes,'" he said. "But I will also say, 'here are the risks of doing it without fully meeting the conditions.'"
"My job is to continuously review the conditions that must be met," he said. "There are three conditions and numerous objectives that must be achieved. I believe that when those conditions are met, the transfer will happen."
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said the two countries "are systematically, stably and proactively pursuing the transfer of operational control under the principle that the transfer will take place upon mutual agreement that the conditions set out in the conditions-based OPCON Transition Plan (COTP) have been met."
The Defense Ministry added that the two sides "have been closely cooperating to verify Full Operational Capability (FOC) this year in accordance with last year's SCM agreement," and that all planned joint assessments of capabilities for this year have been completed. It said remaining differences would be resolved through bilateral consultations before the SCM.
The Defense Ministry said it is coordinating with the US Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on mutually available schedules for the SCM and MCM. However, scheduling for next month is understood to be complicated by the recent appointment of new Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul as well as the US midterm election calendar.
Brunson also said at the discussion that the primary mission of the US Army's Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF), which is being considered for deployment to the Korean Peninsula, is to build layered sensing capabilities. The MDTF is a unit designed to conduct "multi-domain operations" — the US Army's operational concept spanning land, maritime, air, space, and cyber and electronic warfare domains.
"The problem on the Korean Peninsula is not about subtracting from the 28,500 troops here — it's about adding," he said. "From the standpoint of deploying the right capabilities to the peninsula, the MDTF is very attractive."
He said the ability to operate in the space, cyber and electronic warfare domains — the core capabilities required in each of those areas — is "very, very important," as is the sensing capability, "particularly enhanced sensing capability," that those assets provide.
"We want to bring these assets in to better understand not just the operational environment on the Korean Peninsula but the broader surrounding environment," Brunson said. "Just draw a line on a map — you can see the distance from Beijing to Seoul." The remark suggested the MDTF deployment is intended with not only North Korea in mind, but also China and Russia.
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