Visit timed to KIDA-Heritage academic conference

Trip comes ahead of planned defense ministers' meeting in December

Kim Hong-cheol, director general of defense policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, shakes hands with George LeMeur, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia. [Ministry of National Defense]
Kim Hong-cheol, director general of defense policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, shakes hands with George LeMeur, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia. [Ministry of National Defense]

Kim Hong-cheol, director general of defense policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, is visiting the United States. Kim oversees the Korea-US alliance and the transfer of wartime operational control.

The Defense Ministry said Thursday that Kim is in the US from Tuesday through Sunday to attend the 10th KIDA-Heritage Academic Conference.

During the visit, Kim is scheduled to meet with key officials at the US Department of Defense, the Department of State and Congress to discuss a range of alliance issues, the ministry added.

The KIDA-Heritage Academic Conference is a joint event organized by KIDA and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank. Kim is expected to use the occasion to meet broadly with US administration and congressional officials to discuss major bilateral security issues.

The visit comes ahead of a Korea-US defense ministers' meeting planned for next month. Defense Minister Kang Shin-cheol met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus last month and agreed to hold a ministerial meeting in Washington in December and convene the Security Consultative Meeting in early next year.

Kim's trip is therefore seen as an effort to align the agenda for the ministers' meeting and coordinate the SCM schedule in advance.

The timeline for the transfer of wartime operational control is also cited as a key backdrop for the visit. Seoul had originally sought to complete the verification of the Future Combined Forces Command's full operational capability at this year's SCM, scheduled for October or November, and then recommend a target year for the transfer to the leaders of both countries. With the SCM failing to take place this year, however, the target-year determination and subsequent steps have been pushed to next year.

This marks the first time a senior Defense Ministry official has visited the US since the American midterm elections. Analysts say the government is moving to gauge the political climate in Washington and engage in behind-the-scenes consultations to ensure that previously agreed schedules proceed without disruption, following the shift in the US political landscape after the elections.


rimsclub@heraldcorp.com