Text Fwd: Allies reassess NK military threat

Korea Times
Allies reassess NK military threat
By Jung Sung-ki, Staff reporter
June 27, 2010

An agreement by the leaders of Seoul and Washington to delay the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) by some three and a half years to Dec. 1, 2015 comes after the allies reevaluated the threat posed by North Korea's asymmetrical and irregular warfare capability.

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung-hwan confirmed last week that talks have been under way between Seoul and Washington to reschedule the transfer of wartime control, saying Seoul had begun rethinking the issue as a result of North Korea conducting a second nuclear test last year.

Moreover, the sinking of a South Korean warship in March in the West Sea apparently propelled the reconsideration of the timeline for the transfer of OPCON of South Korean troops during wartime from the U.S. military to Korean commanders, officials and experts here said.

A multinational investigation team concluded last month that the Cheonan ship was sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine.

The incident revealed loopholes in the defense readiness and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability against North Korean warfare tactics on top of the communist regime's missile and nuclear programs, they said.

"To take over the OPCON, our military has prepared to secure enough independent capability regarding ISR, C4I digital command structures and precision striking since the 2007 agreement," an official at the Ministry of National Defense said. "But the original plan has turned out to be not realistic, and that's why we've agreed to delay the timeline to 2015."

Follow-up measures for the delay of the OPCON transition will be discussed at the "2+2" meeting of foreign and defense ministers from the two countries in July in Seoul and the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) of defense ministers in October in Washington, D.C., he said.

For South Korea, securing independent ISR assets has been referred to as a daunting task to retaking the wartime command that was handed over to the U.S. military with the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War.

But the planned acquisition of ISR systems has been postponed due largely to budget shortfalls. Major ISR assets, including U.S.-built Global Hawk high-flying unmanned aerial vehicles and domestically-built signal intelligence surveillance aircraft, are scheduled to be introduced by 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Both militaries have also been struggling to set up new C4I digital command structures to make them interoperable following the OPCON transfer.

The timeline for 2015 also coincides with the changed timetable for the relocation of U.S. bases and facilities to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. The relocation project had been set for 2008, but the plan has been deferred due to budget problems and opposition from Pyeongtaek residents.

Under the Defense Reform 2020 plan, the South Korean Army was to launch an integrated command for ground operations, as the U.S. Forces Korea would shift its role to a naval- and air-centric one after the 2012 OPCON transition. But this plan has also been stalled.

After several years of negotiations, the governments of South Korea and the United States agreed in 2007 that Seoul would execute independent OPCON beginning April 17, 2012. Washington had called for the transfer by 2009.

The two sides also agreed on command rearrangement after disbanding the Combined Forces Command, which is to be replaced by a South Korean-U.S. "military cooperation center," a joint body for combat operations.

South Korean conservatives regard the command changes as a U.S. move to reduce its security commitment to South Korea.

They have argued that the smaller role of the U.S. military amid lingering threats posed by the reclusive North could tip the military balance on the Korean Peninsula.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr