US Defense Department says it's using South Korea's push for wartime operational control transfer to spur 'generational improvement' in combat capabilities

The US Department of Defense said South Korea is using its push to transfer wartime operational control to Korean forces as an opportunity to improve the South Korean military's combat capabilities.

A report titled "2026 National Defense Strategy Implementation Update," published Tuesday (local time) on the Defense Department's website, said the US is "continuing to modernize the alliance and strengthen the US conventional force posture on the Korean Peninsula to counter all regional threats."

The report added that "as South Korea accelerates its efforts to transfer operational control to Korean forces, the Department is using this as an opportunity to encourage a generational improvement in the Republic of Korea military's combat capabilities."

On defense spending by Indo-Pacific allies, the report highlighted that South Korea "became the first non-NATO ally to adopt a new global defense spending standard of allocating 3.5 percent of GDP to core military capabilities" and agreed to assume primary responsibility for the conventional defense against North Korea.

The report was submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee as a summary of the Defense Department's progress in implementing its defense strategy this year.

In its defense strategy released in January, the Defense Department said South Korea possesses a capable military backed by high levels of defense spending, a robust defense industry and a mandatory conscription system, and said Seoul has "the capacity to assume primary responsibility for deterrence against North Korea with a very significant but more limited US support role."