South Korea, US pledge to accelerate wartime Opcon transfer

South Korea and the United States pledged to strengthen cooperation to accelerate the conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control to Seoul during defense talks in Busan. Korea and the United States pledged to reinforce cooperation to accelerate the transition of wartime operational control (Opcon) to Seoul from Washington during their senior-level defense talks this week, a joint statement said Friday. The allies held the 29th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) in Busan from Wednesday to Friday, as Korean President Lee Jae Myung's administration seeks to retake wartime Opcon before the end of its term in 2030. Brunson reinforces that Opcon transfer must be 'conditions based' Defense minister nominee confident about Opcon, soft-spoken on Hormuz How Trump's order to scale back drills complicates Seoul's wartime command bid “Both sides evaluated the work to modernize the alliance in the face of an evolving security environment,” they said in the statement. “They also assessed progress on the Conditions-based Wartime Operational Control Transition Plan, and pledged to strengthen cooperation to accelerate the transition of wartime Opcon,” they added. Seoul and Washington have been working on the conditions-based Opcon transfer since they agreed on it in October 2014. The conditions include Korea's capabilities to lead combined Korea-U.S. forces, its strike and air defense capabilities and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover. At the defense talks, the two sides also assessed the progress in implementing follow-up measures in the areas of defense cooperation within the joint fact sheet on bilateral security and other agreements, as well as the joint communiqué of last year's defense ministerial talks, called the Security Consultative Meeting, according to the statement.

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Region

Gangwon, South Korea

Published

19 Sep 2026

Languages

English

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