SEOUL, April 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's Defense Ministry said Monday the government will take back wartime operational command from Washington in 2015 as scheduled, though there are growing calls to postpone the deadline given the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s repeated war threats, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The DPRK made repeated war threats after the UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions against Pyongyang last month after it conducted a third nuclear test in February, according to the report.
Heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula have deepened security concerns. Asked if the government will rethink about the planned transfer, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said that "currently the Defense Ministry sticks to the principle of following the agreement between South Korea and the U.S.," Yonhap News Agency reported.
Kim also emphasized that South Korean military should strengthen the level of its capabilities.
Spokesman for the Defense Ministry said in a briefing Monday that "transfer of the wartime operation control (OPCON) is an agreement made by leaders of South Korea and the U.S., military officials of the two nations are obliged to fulfill the goal."
Seoul's wartime operational control was given to the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, which was later transferred to the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).
South Korea and the United States reached an agreement in 2010, under which Washington will transfer the OPCON to Seoul on Dec. 1, 2015.
Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea now.
Teenager saves mom with his bare hands
Feedback
RSS
