Cheong Wa Dae: OPCON transfer means S. Korea takes the wheel, not pushing US out

Cheong Wa Dae Communications Secretary Seong Ki-hong said Tuesday that transferring wartime operational control to South Korea means "the US is currently in the driver's seat while we sit in the passenger seat — now we take the wheel and the US moves to the passenger seat," describing the shift as the core meaning of the OPCON transfer.

Speaking on SBS's "Ju Yeong-jin's News Briefing" that day, Seong added that the transfer "is by no means asking the United States to get off the taxi or bus we are riding together."

He said operational command had been held by the United States for 76 years and had come to be treated as a matter of course. "But South Korea is probably the only major power with this level of national strength that does not independently hold its own OPCON," he said.

On recent remarks by Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of US Forces Korea, who mentioned changes to the conditions for an OPCON transfer — prompting some analysts to suggest the transfer had effectively been put on hold — Seong said he understood that "Commander Brunson's remarks do not represent the position of the entire US government."

He went on to say that "consultations between the two countries toward the OPCON transfer are ongoing."

Meanwhile, on Cheong Wa Dae's recent formation of a TF to prepare for a possible golf meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump, Seong said that if such a scene were to unfold, "it would be an important event symbolizing the solidity of the South Korea-US alliance" and "a matter that must be checked meticulously."

Dismissing opposition criticism, he said he doubted golf was used as fodder for political attacks anywhere, adding that he had never heard of political controversy surrounding the golf of former US President Barack Obama or President Donald Trump.