Cho says two sides narrowing differences on timing, substance of OPCON transfer
Seoul military authorities judge transfer conditions met
Minister vows to raise visa delays with Rubio directly
'US visa measures chaotic, hard to call a policy'
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Tuesday that the United States had told him the two sides are narrowing their differences on the timing and substance of transferring wartime operational control, and vowed to raise directly with Secretary of State Marco Rubio the case of a South Korean lawmaker blocked from visiting the US due to a visa delay.
Cho made the remarks at a comprehensive national audit by the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, responding to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Song Seok-jun about the state of South Korea-US discussions on the OPCON transfer. "I have been told that, through ongoing communication, the timing and substance are converging," Cho said.
He added that the issue had come up during his earlier meeting with Secretary Rubio, and that he had also discussed it with US Department of Defense Undersecretary Elbridge Colby when he visited Washington, D.C.
Asked whether the conditions for the transfer had been met, Cho said, "Our military authorities take that view and are pressing ahead to reclaim OPCON."
The South Korean government has been working to complete the full operational capability verification of the Future Combined Forces Command and establish a concrete transfer timeline. However, differences between the South Korean and US militaries over whether the verification conditions have been satisfied remain.
Cho's assertion that the two sides are converging on the timing and substance of the transfer has drawn attention to whether the bilateral consultations will see meaningful progress.
Cho also expressed strong frustration over US visa issuance practices.
The audit session took up the case of Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, who was unable to travel to the United States for a national audit of the South Korean Embassy in Washington after his visa application was delayed.
When Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ki-won suggested that senior Department of State officials might be unaware of the matter, Cho said he was scheduled to travel to the US on Thursday and meet with Secretary Rubio. "I will raise the issue then as well," he said.
Cho is set to visit Atlanta from Thursday through Sunday to attend the G20 foreign ministers' meeting. Bilateral talks with Secretary Rubio are currently being arranged.
Cho said he had also raised the matter directly with the US Embassy in Seoul on Oct. 8, when Jung's visa problem first became public.
"I think raising this issue directly with the embassy, as foreign minister, constitutes a fairly strong protest," he said.
He went on to criticize US visa-related measures, saying they were "a bit chaotic — it is hard to even call this a policy."
"They themselves say they do not know why this is happening and that there is nothing they can do," Cho said. "Looking at the behavior of agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, much of it defies common sense."
Cho also voiced concern about the overall management of US policy. "The US government lacks a degree of consistency in its policies, and at times the situation becomes somewhat confusing," he said.
He added, however, that "precisely because of that, we are communicating closely with the United States at every level to ensure the South Korea-US alliance remains on solid footing."
Meanwhile, responding to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kim Dae-sik about a summit photo from last month's Korea-US meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York not having been posted on the White House website, Cho said a senior Foreign Ministry official had personally asked the US side last week to upload the photo.
sjy@heraldcorp.com
