"'We Go Together' Is Not Just a Slogan"… Another Friction?

[Anchor]

The commander of U.S. Forces Korea, who previously stated that conditions for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) had changed, has now raised issues with the real-time intelligence system between South Korea and the United States. Analysts view that differences in stance between the two sides regarding the OPCON transfer also played a role in the eventual postponement of this year's South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) to next year.

Reporter Kim Minjun reports.

[Reporter]

Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, took to the podium in front of an inverted map centered on the Korean Peninsula with north and south reversed.

After explaining South Korea's importance from the perspective of countering China, he brought up the issue of real-time intelligence integration between the South Korean and U.S. militaries.

[Gen. Xavier Brunson / Commander, U.S. Forces Korea: "We cannot tolerate any delay while manually copying information detected by South Korean military radar and entering it into U.S. military systems."]

Following his remarks on October 14 that "the conditions for the transfer of wartime operational control have definitely changed, and new criteria have emerged," he has now pointed out shortcomings in allied intelligence sharing—in other words, readiness posture.

[Gen. Xavier Brunson / Commander, U.S. Forces Korea: "'We go together' is not a slogan borrowed for a bumper sticker."]

Analysts suggest that the postponement of this year's South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) to early next year, decided at yesterday's (October 28) defense ministerial talks, is also not unrelated to disagreements surrounding the OPCON transfer.

In the press release summarizing the talks, the phrase "transfer in a timely manner" was used instead of existing formulations such as "accelerating the OPCON transfer" or "expeditious transfer."

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense, however, stated that there are "no major disagreements" between the two nations, adding that "differences in stance at the military level will be resolved through consultations."

[Jeong Bit-na / Defense Ministry Spokesperson: "A timely manner means an appropriate and necessary time for both nations. It does not mean that the transfer is being delayed."]

The U.S. Department of Defense has not yet released an official press statement regarding the meeting.

(Camera: Kim Seung-tae, Video Editing: Jeong Seong-hoon)

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