▲ ROK-US Integrated Defense Dialogue held
The Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD), a high-level consultation body between the defense authorities of South Korea and the United States, has released a joint statement announcing plans to strengthen cooperation to accelerate the wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense on the 18th local time, KIDD stated in the joint statement that "both sides evaluated efforts to modernize the alliance in response to changes in the security environment." It added, "They also reviewed the progress of the Conditions-based Operational Control Transition Plan (COTP) and pledged to strengthen cooperation to accelerate the OPCON transfer."
The joint statement continued, "Both sides reviewed the implementation status of follow-up measures regarding defense cooperation from the joint explanatory materials agreed upon by the leaders of South Korea and the United States, as well as the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM)." It also noted that participants visited major defense industry sites together to strengthen cooperation in naval shipbuilding and aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).
The KIDD meeting took place in Busan over a three-day period starting from the 16th, with Kim Hong-chul, Director General for Defense Policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, and George Helmlinger, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs serving as chief delegates respectively.
Established in 2011, the KIDD meeting is a high-level consultative body designed for effective security cooperation between South Korea and the United States.
This meeting was held approximately four months after the 28th meeting took place in Washington, D.C. last May.
This marks the first time that a KIDD meeting has been held in a location other than Seoul or Washington, D.C.
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense stated that Busan was chosen as the meeting venue to emphasize the commitment of both nations to shipbuilding cooperation and South Korea's capabilities in the shipbuilding industry.
(Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense, Yonhap News)
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