South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Wednesday that his
country was ready for getting back the wartime operational control
of South Korean troops from the US forces in South Korea.
"Our defense capability has been continuously strengthened," Roh
said in an interview with the Yonhap News Agency, adding that "even
if we get back the wartime operational control now, we can exercise
it."
Roh's remarks came amid criticism by the conservatives that an
early return of the wartime operational control might weaken South
Korea's defense capability and leave negative effect on the balance
on the Korean Peninsula.
"The wartime operational control is the core of self-defense,
and self-defense is the core of a self-reliant country," Roh
said.
"When we have wartime operational control, we also can take the
initiative in military talks with the North (the Democratic People'
s Republic of Korea) to ease tension and build up military
confidence measures on the peninsula." Roh said.
However, the president said the handover of the wartime
operational control is "most appropriate to fit it to the timing of
(US forces) moving into the Pyeongtaek base."
"There are lots of things to discuss and I think US troops'
relocation to the Pyeongtaek base will eventually happen in 2010 or
2011," Roh added.
The United States plans to expand Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek,
some 70 km south of Seoul, to relocate most of its 30,000-strong
troops in South Korea.
South Korea and the United States launched negotiations in last
October on the creation of new command systems that can replace the
US-led Combined Forces Command (CFC).
According to South Korean Defense Ministry officials, the two
sides expect to draw a roadmap for the operational control issue in
October when annual talks between the two defense chiefs is held in
Washington.
The US-led UN Command captured the operational control of South
Korean military forces in 1950 when the Korean War erupted.
In 1978, the CFC was created and took over wartime control
rights from the UNC.
Seoul took back the peacetime control of South Korea's
680,000-strong forces in 1994 while the wartime operational control
remains in the hands of the US commander in South Korea.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2006)
