US, South Korea reach agreement for wartime control of forces

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and South Korean Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo met at the Pentagon Thursday for the 46th Security Consultative Meeting.

At the meet, they agreed to implement South Korea's proposal for a conditions-based approach to transferring wartime control of allied forces, known as operational control, or OPCON, to ensure the combined defense posture remains strong and seamless, Xinhua quoted the US Defense Department as saying in a statement.

South Korea was scheduled to take wartime control by the end of 2015; now the transfer will focus on South Korea achieving critical defensive capabilities against an intensifying North Korean threat.

Therefore, no new date for transferring OPCON will be set, the statement said.

Planners from the US and South Korea will create a new base plan that will replace the Strategic Alliance 2015 Base Plan by the 47th Security Consultative Meeting.