South Korean Defense Minister said Sunday that Seoul and Washington have made “significant progress” on the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), stressing that the two allies face “no major issues,” according to media reports.
Ahn Gyu-back made the remarks before leaving for Washington for talks Monday with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as Seoul is seeking to retake wartime command of its troops from Washington before President Lee Jae Myung government’s five-year term ends in 2030, Yonhap News reported.
“South Korean and US officials made significant progress in 2015 regarding the wartime OPCON transfer under a conditions-based agreement,” Ahn told reporters.
Based on that progress, he added, that the sides have been preparing for the transition in a “systematic, stable and consistent manner.”
“And because those preparations have continued steadily, I do not believe there is any major issue with accelerating the OPCON transition,” Ahn maintained.
His remarks came amid signs of differences in views between the allies, as Seoul is reportedly targeting 2028 for the transition, while the Trump administration is still in office.
But the transition may not be ready even after Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20, 2029, as the US Forces Korea commander Gen. Xavier Brunson told Congress last month that the two countries seek to meet conditions required for the transfer no later than the first quarter of 2029.
Ahn said that setting the target year for the wartime OPCON transfer will also be among the key agenda items for talks with his American counterpart.
At last year’s annual consultative meeting between the defense chiefs, the two sides agreed to finalize the second phase of the road map for the wartime OPCON transfer and to determine a target year for the transition at their subsequent meeting.
About South Korea’s push for nuclear-powered submarines, Ahn said negotiations between the two allies on the matter could kick off before the end of the first half of 2026.
“South Korea has significant submarine-related capabilities, so if the US provides some level of support on the fuel side, I don’t believe there would be major difficulties in moving forward with the process,” he said.
