OPCON Transition in Korea

Korea Chair Platform

The Republic of Korea (ROK) and U.S. are again discussing whether to transition wartime Operational Control (OPCON) to the ROK on 1 Dec 2015. This is the third such discussion (previous ones were in 2006 and 2010). There has been much written about the pros and cons to do this and also what it would mean. Since the initial discussions, several keys factors have changed so I thought it would be good to put together an article that describes the current command structures in Korea, what they will look like if the planned transition occurs in 2015, some alternative structures folks are examining, the issues that are being discussed in Korea and in the U.S., and my recommendations.

General (Ret) Walter Sharp