USFK commander says conditions for wartime operational control transfer have changed

Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of United States Forces Korea, said the conditions agreed upon by South Korea and the United States for the transfer of wartime operational control have changed.

Speaking at a seminar hosted by the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington think tank, on Wednesday (local time), Brunson said he supports the transfer of operational control, calling it "modernizing the world's greatest alliance."

However, he added, "What I'm against is violating the conditions that were set years ago and that exist today. We've been working on this since 2015."

Brunson said "none of us can say the conditions haven't changed."

"If you just skim the newspaper, you'll see the conditions have definitely changed. There was another missile launch from North Korea this week," he said. "The conditions have changed, and because we've changed our plans, new standards have emerged that we must meet."

The "conditions" Brunson referred to appear to carry a dual meaning — both the specific benchmarks set by South Korean and US military authorities for the transfer of operational control, and the broader security environment on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea and the United States are currently at odds over whether the conditions for the transfer have been met. Seoul maintains they have been sufficiently satisfied and that a transfer could proceed without issue, while Washington is said to believe they have still not been met.

"Someone may make a decision not to be against the transfer of operational control, but I want us to meet the conditions that were previously established," Brunson said.

On the question of a timeline-based transfer — rather than one grounded in conditions — he said, "That's not what we do." He added, "While timing itself is a condition, we're talking about core capabilities, the ability to fully execute every mission."