South Korea and the United States agreed on Thursday to delay again a plan to give Seoul wartime control of its troops until it improves capabilities to counter nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
The allies did not specify a target year for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), but officials from both sides anticipate that it could be around the mid-2020s, according to the South Korean news agency.
The transfer was scheduled for late 2015 after being postponed four years earlier. Citing growing threats from North Korea, South Korea asked for another delay in 2013, with Seoul and Washington agreeing in April to reconsider the transfer date.
South Korea currently has peacetime control of its approximately 639,000 service members, but control in case of war transfers to a U.S. four-star general under the Combined Forces Command (CFC).
Thursday's agreement, reached at the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) between South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his U.S. counterpart, Chuck Hagel, was seen as an expression of Washington's security commitment to the Korean Peninsula and a stern message to Pyongyang, which has threatened to carry out "a new form of nuclear test" and test-launch long-range rockets.
The decision was made "in light of the evolving security environment in the region, including the enduring North Korean nuclear and missile threat and the need to maintain a strong U.S.-ROK combined defense posture," according to a joint statement released after the meeting. ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
"The national authorities of the U.S. and ROK will make a determination on the appropriate timing for wartime OPCON transition based upon the SCM's recommendation," it noted.