U.S., ROK Ministers Agree on OPCON Date
[Update: But we’re demanding benchmarks! Gates apparently shares my fears and has demanded ROK assurances that the date won’t slide yet again. He’s also demanding “tangible moves,” such as “establishing a military command that would take charge of troop control, and an earlier start to drawing up new military strategies once Combined Forces Command is dismantled.” Those sure do sound a lot like “benchmarks,” although that term was understandably avoided. I think the value of a promise made to Robert Gates will diminish pretty steadily between now and January 2009.]
[Update 2: The Korean Retired Generals’ and Admirals’ Assocation hates it. They think it’s too soon.]
The date is April 17, 2012, which is further out than what we’d been discussing recently.
After noting that the two sides agreed to the future command relationship structure at the October 2006 Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), Secretary Gates and Minister Kim agreed that the two sides will disestablish the current ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command on April 17, 2012 and complete the transition to the new supporting-supported command relationship between U.S. and ROK forces at the same time. In this regard, Secretary Gates and Minister Kim further agreed that implementation of the OPCON transition “Road Map” will commence in July 2007 immediately following agreement on the “Road map” and culminate in a Certification Exercise in March 2012. [link to joint statement]
This will allow the Koreans plenty of time to come back to the new Defense Secretary in March 2009 and announce an urgent need to renegotiate the schedule again, pushing the date back to 2015, and beyond. As much as this looks like another unwelcome cave-in, I’m personally less concerned about OPCON than I am about moving our forces out, and to the South, in that order. The news there isn’t all bad:
Secretary Gates and Minister Kim reiterated commitments to work closely to accelerate the relocation of USFK units and facilities and the full implementation of both the Yongsan Relocation Plan and the Land Partnership Plan.
I expect the Koreans to drag their feet on this, too. Both Koreas want to keep a lot of warm American targets within North Korean artillery range. The Korean government always pushes hardest where it sees a soft spot.