Seoul: The United States "very much" supports South Korea's efforts to take a more prominent role in leading conventional defense against North Korea, according to a senior U.S. defense official. This announcement comes as Korean President Lee Jae Myung's administration aims to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington before the end of its term in 2030.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the remarks were made during a press briefing coinciding with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to Asia, which includes stops in Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and South Korea. The agenda includes discussions with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back about the OPCON transition efforts during the annual Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul on November 4.
"We very much support the ROK doing more to lead its conventional defense in deterrence against the DPRK. We support those efforts," the official stated, highlighting ongoing extensive discussions between Seoul and Washington on how South Korea can assume primary responsibility for the alliance's conventional defense against North Korea. ROK and DPRK are abbreviations for the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, respectively.
The official emphasized that taking wartime OPCON is a priority for President Lee, and Secretary Hegseth is eager to address this issue with Minister Ahn at the SCM. Observers suggest that the U.S. may not strongly oppose Seoul's push to regain OPCON, as this shift could relieve a security burden for the U.S. by allowing South Korea to lead wartime operations in a combined defense structure.
The two countries have been working on a "conditions-based" OPCON transfer, which includes ensuring South Korea's capabilities to lead combined Korea-U.S. forces, its strike and air defense capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover. South Korea originally handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. Command during the 1950-53 Korean War, and it remains with the U.S., even though South Korea regained peacetime OPCON in 1994.
When questioned about potential U.S. troop reductions in South Korea, the official mentioned that the Pentagon currently has no announcements regarding changes to the force posture in South Korea.