South Korea-U.S. Joint Statement: “Strengthening Cooperation to Accelerate the Transfer of Wartime Operational Control”

[Financial News] The Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD), a high-level consultative body between the South Korean and U.S. defense authorities, issued a joint statement pledging to strengthen cooperation to accelerate the transfer of wartime operational control.
According to the United States Department of Defense (DoD) on the 18th local time, KIDD said in a joint statement, "The two sides assessed efforts to modernize the alliance in response to changes in the security environment," and "also reviewed progress on the Conditions-Based Operational Control Transition Plan (COTP) and pledged to strengthen cooperation to accelerate the transfer of wartime operational control."
The joint statement added, "The two sides reviewed the implementation status of follow-up measures in the defense cooperation areas covered by the joint explanatory document agreed upon by the South Korean and U.S. leaders and the 57th South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM)," and "South Korean and U.S. participants jointly visited key defense-industry sites to strengthen cooperation in shipbuilding and aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO)."
The KIDD meeting was held in Busan for three days starting on the 16th. Kim Hong-cheol, director of the Ministry of National Defense’s Defense Policy Office, and George Leumeur, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, served as the chief representatives, respectively.
The KIDD meeting is a high-level consultative body launched in 2011 to facilitate effective security consultations between South Korea and the United States. The latest meeting came about four months after the 28th meeting, which was held in Washington, D.C., in May.
This was the first time a KIDD meeting had been held at a third location other than Seoul or Washington, D.C. South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense selected Busan as the venue to emphasize the two countries’ commitment to cooperation in shipbuilding and South Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities.
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter