Jin Sung-joon: “OPCON transfer agreement won’t be shaken despite U.S. Democrats’ landslide victory”

[Financial News] As the Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the U.S. midterm elections draws attention to its potential impact on ROK-U.S. security cooperation, Jin Sung-joon, a DPK lawmaker and chair of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, said there was no possibility that the existing agreement on the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) would be shaken. U.S. military authorities also reaffirmed the principle of conditions-based OPCON transfer and said they could cooperate with South Korea’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
At a press conference at the National Assembly on the 8th to report on the results of his visit to Hawaii, Jin addressed the potential impact of the U.S. midterm elections on OPCON transfer, saying, “The issue of the return and transfer of OPCON is one that South Korea and the United States have discussed and agreed on for at least 20 years” and “I don’t think there will be any particular change.” He went on to stress, “Even if the U.S. Democratic Party wins by a large margin, the agreement between South Korea and the United States will not be reconsidered or shaken.”
Earlier, a National Assembly National Defense Committee delegation to the U.S., led by Committee Chair Jin, visited the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii and its subordinate component commands from the 1st to the 5th to discuss OPCON transfer and ways to strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance.
According to the delegation, the U.S. side acknowledged that some policy variables could come into play regarding South Korea’s commitment to OPCON transfer, but confirmed that the existing agreement on “conditions-based OPCON transfer” remained unchanged and that the conditions for the transfer had not changed to date. It also explained that the ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), postponed until early next year, was rescheduled because of coordination of the schedules of the two countries’ military leadership, including their defense ministers, and not because of differences over OPCON transfer.
South Korea’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines also reportedly drew a positive response. According to the delegation, Pacific Fleet Commander Steven T. Quayler said acquiring nuclear-powered submarines could contribute to the development of the ROK-U.S. alliance and expressed his willingness to cooperate actively if the two countries made the relevant policy decisions. He also pledged continued cooperation to expand defense-industry cooperation in shipbuilding. Indo-Pacific Commander Samuel Paparo described South Korea as a trustworthy “exemplary ally” and said he would further strengthen the combined defense posture.
Meanwhile, Chair Jin also pushed back against calls for him to resign as National Defense Committee chair over the delay in approval for his entry into the United States before the trip, asking, “Does the National Defense Committee chair have to resign just because the United States won’t issue a visa to the chair?”
[email protected] Jiwon Song Reporter