S. Korea, U.S. expected to sign new terms of military alliance

[SpArK]

S. Korea, U.S. expected to sign new terms of military alliance​

By Kim Deok-hyun
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States are expected to forge a new military alliance this week, focusing on the transfer of wartime control on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's senior defense official said Wednesday.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young was en route to Washington for an annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) Friday with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The allies alternately host the meeting to review the latest security situation in South Korea, where the U.S. keeps 28,500 troops.

At the center of this year's SCM talks is the South's plan to retake wartime operational control (OPCON) of its military in 2015, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Dubbed the "Strategic Alliance 2015," the new plan would not only cover the transfer of wartime command, but also map out new war scenarios, introducing more realistic exercises between the allies and reshaping their military organizational structures, the official told reporters.

"The Strategic Alliance 2015 is aimed at strengthening the joint defense posture by South Korean and U.S. forces to successfully confront future security challenges," he said, adding the new plan would also "lay a groundwork for a stronger military partnership between the allies over the next five years."

In June, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to delay the transfer of OPCON to 2015 from 2012 as tensions spiked after North Korea sank a South Korean warship. North Korea denies any role.

The sinking of the Cheonan exposed command and communication problems in the South Korean military, which prompted the revised schedule.

South Korea voluntarily put the control of its forces under the American-led U.N. Command shortly after the Korean War broke out in 1950. In 1994, peacetime control was handed back to South Korea, but control in the event of hostilities remains in the hands of the top U.S. commander here.

Other key topics at Friday's talks would be future military cooperation and a new war scenario called OPLAN 5027.

In the event North Korea invades the South, OPLAN 5027 aims to remove the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and defeat his 1.2-million-strong military. But analysts say it fails to address a nuclear war.

"This year's SCM talks would become a significant turning point in the future of South Korea-U.S. military alliance," the official said.


S. Korea, U.S. expected to sign new terms of military alliance