Defense Ministry says it is consulting with the Pentagon on mutually available dates

Gap in Seoul, Washington announcements points to unresolved differences over wartime operational control transfer

The Ministry of National Defense building. [Yonhap]
The Ministry of National Defense building. [Yonhap]

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday that no specific schedule has been set for the Security Consultative Meeting, the annual defense forum where the transfer of wartime operational control is expected to be on the agenda. "We are consulting with the US Department of Defense while considering mutually available schedules, and no specific details have been finalized," the ministry said.

The statement came after the US Department of Defense announced it would postpone the SCM to early next year, leaving a visible gap between the two sides' public positions — Washington signaling a delay, Seoul insisting nothing has been decided.

The Pentagon is reported to have agreed with South Korea to push the meeting back to early 2027 due to scheduling conflicts between the two countries' leaders, with the US side emphasizing the decision was reached by mutual agreement. The Defense Ministry, however, has placed greater weight on the fact that a final date has not been confirmed.

The SCM is an annual consultative body attended by the defense ministers of South Korea and the United States, held alternately in Seoul and Washington.

Within and around the military, the prevailing view is that unresolved differences between Seoul and Washington over the timing and pace of the operational control transfer have contributed to the scheduling delay. Because the SCM is the primary venue for assessing the conditions and roadmap for the transfer, a postponement could affect the government's own timeline for completing it, analysts say.

The government maintains that negotiations are narrowing the gap. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, appearing Tuesday before the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee for a national audit, was asked whether South Korea would proceed with its operational control transfer timeline even if the United States did not agree. "Through negotiations, all of these issues are drawing considerably closer together, and I therefore believe things will go in the direction our government wants," Cho said.

Cho added that she believes the United States "will come to agree," saying the government would "negotiate with that resolve and secure their agreement."


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