"SCM Postponed to Early Next Year" ... U.S. Denies Visa to DP's Jin Seong-jun

[Anchor]

Although the defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States held their first bilateral talks, the annual Security Consultative Meeting scheduled for this year has been postponed to early next year. Amid analysis that differences persist over the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), the chairman of South Korea's parliamentary defense committee has been denied a U.S. visa.

Reporter Noh Dong-gyu reports.

[Reporter]

Visiting the Philippines to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus, the defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States held talks for about 40 minutes today (October 28).

This marked the first time Minister Kang Shin-chul met with Secretary Hegseth.

The Ministry of National Defense said that both ministers agreed to cooperate closely to ensure the timely and smooth transfer of OPCON, adding that they agreed to hold bilateral defense ministerial talks in Washington this December and convene the South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) early next year.

It marks the first time in 28 years, since 1998, that the SCM—an annual ministerial consultation body—has been pushed into the following year.

Analysts say that as holding the SCM within the year became difficult due to differences over the OPCON transfer, the two sides chose to pursue last-minute coordination through a separate ministerial meeting beforehand.

The South Korean government had sought to establish the target year for the OPCON transfer, the so-called "Year X," through the SCM this year, but the timing of the meeting has faced continuous delays from its original schedule in October or November.

[Kang Shin-chul / Minister of National Defense (October 26): "We are making efforts to verify the Full Operational Capability (FOC) at the SCM and determine 'Year X' (the OPCON transfer year)... We are generally building a mutual understanding with the U.S. side regarding 'Year X.'"]

In particular, remarks on October 14 by USFK Commander Brunson—who stated that conditions for the OPCON transfer have clearly changed and that new standards must be met—provoked strong backlash from the South Korean government and the ruling party, which insisted that "there would be no issue even if it were transferred right now."

With differences between the allies coming to the fore, tensions appear to be mounting further as Jin Seong-jun, Chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee and a member of the Democratic Party, was denied a U.S. visa.

Chairman Jin had originally finalized plans to visit the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from November 1 to 5, having already set a schedule for meetings.

[Jin Seong-jun / Chairman of the National Assembly National Defense Committee (Democratic Party lawmaker) (Today): "I was told notice was received by email from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, and it reportedly states 'refused.' Because there is no explanation as to why it was rejected..."]

Following Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae, the former ruling party leader, the visa refusal for Defense Committee Chairman Jin Seong-jun from the same party is expected to fuel even sharper criticism of the United States from within the ruling bloc.

(Video by Cho Mu-hwan | Graphics by Seo Seung-hyun and Park Taeyoung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.