Official says allies must be ready to deter and defeat 'all regional threats'; remarks echo USFK commander's recent warning that new benchmarks have emerged

Newly appointed Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul greets USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson at his inauguration ceremony at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 22. [Yonhap]
Newly appointed Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul greets USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson at his inauguration ceremony at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 22. [Yonhap]

The Trump administration said Tuesday (local time) that the agreed conditions for transferring wartime operational control have not changed, but stressed that the security threat environment on the Korean Peninsula is evolving at an unprecedented pace.

A senior US official, responding to a question about the wartime OPCON transfer, said "the fundamental conditions for the OPCON transfer have not changed," but added that "the threat environment is evolving faster than ever before."

The official went on to say that the two allies "must be prepared together to deter and defeat all regional threats to the alliance."

The "unchanged fundamental conditions" the senior official referred to appear to mean the evaluation criteria established under the Conditions-based OPCON Transition Plan (COTP), which South Korea and the United States agreed to in 2015. The COTP sets out three broad conditions for the transfer: the military capabilities needed to lead the combined defense, the alliance's comprehensive ability to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and a security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in the region conducive to a stable transition.

The official's remarks about a rapidly evolving threat environment and the need to prepare for all threats appear to reflect the view that North Korea's nuclear and missile technology has advanced quickly, raising the level of threat to peninsular security and demanding more thorough deterrence and defense preparations.

The senior official's reference to the "rapid evolution of threats" echoes recent remarks by USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson, who suggested that an OPCON transfer remains premature. The argument is that North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities have heightened the threat to Korean Peninsula security, and that further deterrence and defense readiness is still needed.

At a Washington think tank seminar on Oct. 14, Gen. Brunson cited North Korea's recent missile test launches and said "conditions have changed, and because we have changed our plans, new standards have emerged that we must meet."

A Pentagon official, responding to the same question, said the OPCON transfer "remains a conditions-based process mutually agreed upon by South Korea and the United States," stressing that the conditions for the transfer must be met.

The official went on to say that "both countries remain committed to ensuring the conditions are met before a transfer takes place," and added that "we will not prejudge the decisions or outcomes of this bilateral process."

Some observers note that the senior US official's references to the "rapid evolution of threats" and deterring "all regional threats" may not be unrelated to the US Army's adoption of a new operational doctrine that designates China as the top-priority threat and introduces the concept of total force projection.


yckim6452@heraldcorp.com