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USFK commander stresses conditions over time period in wartime control transition

Published: 12 Dec. 2025, 15:51

U.S. Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea [YONHAP]

The commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday that adhering to conditions is more important than a certain time period for the transition of wartime operational control (Opcon) to Seoul from Washington, calling the current situation on the Korean Peninsula a "condition of fragile peace."

Gen. Xavier Brunson made the remarks as South Korea has been seeking to achieve the conditions-based Opcon transfer within President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term that ends in 2030. The allies have been discussing the issue under the realm of "alliance modernization."

"The main thing here is the conditions. We cannot say we're going to slide away from the conditions just so that we can get this done in time," Brunson said during a webinar jointly organized by the Korea Defense Veterans Association and Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation.

"We've got to continue to think about the fact that this is conditions based for a reason. It's because the likelihood of us having to do something on the pen is higher than it is anywhere else, because we sit with what I would consider the most fragile of peace […] in a condition of fragile peace," he said.

South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led United Nations Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was then transferred to the two allies' Combined Forces Command when the command was launched in 1978. Wartime Opcon still remains in U.S. hands, while Korea retook peacetime Opcon in 1994.

The allies have been working on the conditions-based Opcon transfer, with conditions including South Korea's capabilities to lead combined Korea-U.S. forces, its strike and air defense capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover.

In recent defense ministerial talks, the two countries agreed to craft a road map designed to "expedite" implementation of Opcon transition conditions and reaffirmed that the bilaterally agreed-upon conditions must be met before the wartime control is transferred in a "systematic, stable, and proactive" manner.

The USFK commander still underscored that such conditions need to be "contemporary" to align with the changing security environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

"The conditions were written for a reason, but we also have to make sure that those conditions are contemporary conditions, because things change," he said, noting certain conditions that have existed on the peninsula for years may be "different" when Opcon transfer happens.

Against such a backdrop, he said the allies should start having what he called "tough" conversations.

"We got to start having these conversations now before we get into conflict, and we ought to try to describe the conditions which we believe will exist in the future, as opposed to saying, yeah, we'll figure it out when we get there," he said.

As part of such efforts, the USFK commander also called on the allies to scrutinize the way their forces are composed and built across multiple domains as part of alliance modernization efforts amid security threats, such as North Korea's deepening ties with Russia.

"We've got to change the way that we're organized for the fights […] There are insidious things being done on and off the peninsula that impact the Republic of Korea. So we've got to change the way that we're organized," he said.

"Modernization of the alliance isn't just the way that we act on the ground. It's also how we organize ourselves to deal with the realities that we're faced with every day."

Brunson's call came amid a U.S. push that calls on allies to do more for their own defense. A new U.S. national security strategy, released earlier this month, underscored Washington's priorities on defending the U.S homeland, reasserting U.S. power on the Western Hemisphere, deterring a conflict over Taiwan and sharing security burdens with allies and partners, among others.

Yonhap