Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said on the 15th that Seoul has conveyed its concerns to Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, after the general said a "new baseline" was needed for the transfer of wartime operational control and expressed skepticism about moving quickly. Kang also stressed that "there would be no problem transferring wartime operational control right now, as long as trust in the South Korea-U.S. alliance is assured."
Asked by Rep. Son Sol of the Progressive Party during a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit of the military courts whether a protest to the U.S. side was warranted, Kang said: "We have already conveyed that point." He added, "We discuss it at the military level, but we also have concerns about the overall impact on the alliance, and we are stating that clearly."
Brunson, speaking on the 14th at an event hosted by the Gold Institute for International Strategy in Washington, D.C., said he supports the transfer itself but stressed that "the conditions have changed and we have changed our plans, so a new baseline has emerged." The remarks were read as arguing that because North Korea's military threat has advanced sharply over the past two to three years, the South Korean military capabilities required for the transfer must be reassessed against the changed environment.
Asked by Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party whether he saw no problem with transferring wartime operational control tomorrow, Kang replied, "I see no problem." He added that "the transfer is carried out with mutual trust assured" and that "because it is done within the framework of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, I am saying there would be no problem at all even if the transfer took place now."
When Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair Seo Young-kyo pressed him on the point, Kang said: "Once wartime operational control is transferred, the command structure changes so that the South Korean commander receives support from a U.S. deputy commander. It shifts to a concept in which a South Korean commander who knows Korea well takes command and the strongest U.S. forces provide support." He stressed, "If it is done with trust in the alliance assured, it can be seen as a stronger command structure than the current one. That is why I am saying there would be no problem even if it happened now."
Asked whether the conditions for the transfer had themselves been changed, Kang said there are "three of them — assessment and verification of initial operational capability, full operational capability and full mission capability — and there are various conditions attached to those, and they remain unchanged."
He was more skeptical about shifting the approach from a "conditions-based" transfer to one set by a timeline. "The 'conditions' are also something the two governments agreed on," Kang said. "Changing that to a 'timeline' is likewise something that would have to be agreed."