Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—October 23, 2014. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and South Korean Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo met today here for the 46th Security Consultative Meeting.
At the meeting, they agreed to implement South Korea’s proposal for a conditions-based approach to transferring wartime control of allied forces, known as OPCON, to ensure the combined defense posture remains strong and seamless.
South Korea was scheduled to take wartime control by the end of 2015; now the transfer will focus on South Korea achieving critical defensive capabilities against an intensifying North Korean threat. Therefore, no new date for transferring OPCON will be set. Planners from the U.S and South Korea will create a new base plan that will replace Strategic Alliance 2015 Base Plan by the 47th SCM.
A full copy of the joint communiqué can be found at http://www.defense.gov/pubs/46th_SCM_Joint_Communique.pdf
Source: defense.gov
