[단독]”The operating rights were transferred within the government period, but the year of conversion was confirmed.”

The government has changed the central objective of the transition to operational control in wartime (opposition). Several government sources said on the 24th that the government is in talks with the United States focused on “ determining the year of conversion this year ” by changing the original goal of “ transition of the opposition within the term of President Moon Jae-in. . (May next year) ”.

The ROK and US military authorities tried to continue the FOC verification assessment, which is the second stage of the three military capability verification assessment stages for the formation of the future CFC, but the Verification assessment was delayed because combined training was canceled in the aftermath of Corona 19. Photo shows Korean-American soldiers conducting joint training in the first half of March 30, 2015. [AP=연합뉴스]

Prior to the transition from OPCON, the ROK and US military authorities are undergoing a three-step verification to assess whether the ROK military has the ability to exercise OPCON. Accordingly, the first verification phase (basic operational capacity ㆍ COI) was completed in 2019, and the second phase (full operational capacity ㆍ COI) was scheduled to be completed last year. However, the verification of the second stage was postponed to this year, as the joint training could not be opened properly due to the aftermath of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

A source familiar with OPCON’s transition plan said: “To complete the transition within President Moon Jae-in’s term (May next year), both Phases 2 and 3 (Full Mission Capability, FMC) must be completed this year. The verification cannot be done in the same year, “he said.” Therefore, even after completing the second stage verification this year, it is impossible to convert within the mandate period. ” Due to these circumstances, the government changed the course of negotiations with the US to ‘determine the transition year’ this year. This time, it is interpreted as a plan to finalize OPCON’s transition year to prevent the next government from changing the transition plan.
A source said: “Unlike the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations that delayed or abolished the rotation in 2012 established by the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the government’s intention is to ensure that regardless of the regime that enter, roadmap agreed ROK and US to change “To save energy, we plan to end the transition year with the US after completing only the second verification stage.”

The specific transition year is set by the 53rd Korean-American Security Council (SCM) to be held this fall in Seoul. Another source who is brilliant in practice among the ROK and US authorities said: “It is correct to complete the second phase verification no later than this summer in the process, and to assess the ROK and the United States together and establish the transition year in SCM. “” If the transition year is determined in consideration of supplementary matters, the final evaluation, the three-stage verification, is scheduled to take place in the year immediately preceding the transition. ” he explained.

The 52nd ROK-US Security Council (SCM) was held at the Ministry of Defense near Washington, DC on October 14 last year (local time) with the assistance of Defense Minister Seo Wook (second from left) and United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (right). On this day, Secretary Seo said, “We will work together to prepare the ROK military-led combined defense system by preparing the conditions for OPCON transition early.” On the other hand, Minister Esper said that “it will take time to convert the OPCON in all conditions.” [연합뉴스]

Therefore, passing the second stage verification this year is the key to confirming the transition year within Moon Jae-in’s administration period. However, the trend of Corona 19 and the decision of the new US administration by Joe Biden remain variable.

Currently, the military authorities of the Republic of Korea and the US are unable to confirm the combined training schedule for the first half of the year with two-step verification due to the reproliferation of Corona 19 in the metropolitan area. The military authorities are coordinating with the US military a plan to open joint exercises for the verification of phase 2 from 8 to 18 March.

The USFK has started vaccination against Corona 19, but the ROK military has only planned vaccinations, so if the ROK-US joint exercises remain variable. If the joint training is delayed until the second half of the year (August-September), it is difficult to report the second stage verification assessment to the SCM. In this regard, a military official said: “Even if the scale of training is reduced due to quarantine problems, the plan to proceed with the verification of the second stage within this year will not change.”

It is unclear what position the US Biden administration will take on the OPCON transition. This is because, unlike the Trump administration, which publicly discussed even reducing American troops in Korea, the Biden administration values ​​the traditional military role of the United States. A former senior official who had negotiated the OPCON ROK-US transition for several years at the time of the Barack Obama administration said, “President Biden and his staff are whole people.” We’ll take a closer look, “he predicted.

There are also observations that the transition of the right to control the war in wartime with the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration may face difficulties. The photo shows a press conference by Lloyd Austin, a reservist, who was appointed as the new US Secretary of Defense on the 9th of last month. On the right is President Biden, and on the left is Vice President Kamala Harris. [AFP=연합뉴스]

During the Park Geun-hye administration, the transition of the opposition agreed by the two countries in 2014 consists of three conditions: ① ensure core military capabilities of the ROK armed forces, ensure capabilities to respond to threats nuclear and missile systems of North Korea and satisfy a stable Korean peninsular and regional security environment consistent with the transition of opposition rights. It is also a question of how the Biden management staff interpret this.

A former government official who wanted to remain anonymous noted that “the ultimate means of dealing with North Korea’s nuclear weapons in particular is the United States’ nuclear umbrella for now, but the United States has doubts that nuclear deterrence is possible. if the situation comes with four star generals in command of the CFC He said: “The military must be faithful to military judgment, and it is difficult to ‘attack forward’ against the goal set by the political power.”

Reporters Cheoljae Lee and Sangjin Kim [email protected]