South Korea-U.S. Defense Chiefs Agree to Hold SCM Early Next Year... "OPCON Transition on Schedule" (Update)

Separate Talks Between the Two Ministers in Washington in December
Coordinate Outstanding Issues, Including the OPCON Transition, Ahead of the SCM

The U.S. and South Korean defense chiefs agreed to hold bilateral talks in Washington, D.C., late this year and convene the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), the annual ministerial-level security dialogue between the two countries, early next year.

The Ministry of National Defense said that Defense Minister Kang Shin-cheol and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met in Cebu, Philippines, on October 28 and reached the agreement.

According to the ministry, Secretary Hegseth reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) during the meeting. The two ministers agreed to work closely together to ensure that the transition proceeds smoothly and on schedule.

South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shincheol (right) poses for a commemorative photo after meeting in person with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Cebu, Philippines. Photo provided by the Ministry of National Defense.

The SCM is an annual ministerial-level forum for discussing South Korea-U.S. defense issues, including the transition of wartime OPCON and extended deterrence. The South Korean government has been seeking to complete the Full Operational Capability (FOC) assessment of the future Combined Forces Command and determine a year for the OPCON transition at the next SCM.

Instead of holding this year's SCM as scheduled, the two countries agreed to postpone it until early next year. The defense ministers will instead hold separate bilateral talks in Washington in December this year.

The two countries are said to intend to reach agreement on major issues, including the OPCON transition, by having their defense chiefs meet for final coordination ahead of the SCM, and then announce the outcome at the meeting.

The talks were held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus). This was the first in-person meeting between Minister Kang, who took office on September 22, and Secretary Hegseth.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.