Why is South Korea's wartime leadership dominated by the United States?

As for why South Korea, as a sovereign country, can't even control its own army, then we have to turn back the time to the Korean War of 1950, when North Korea almost unified the Korean peninsula by surprise attack.

Seeing that the South Korea he supports will die, the Soviet forces will further threaten the United States. So he took the United Nations and set up the United Nations Army, and quickly rushed to "Incheon Landing" to help the defeated South Korean Army.

In order to coordinate the armies of various countries organized by the United States on the Korean peninsula, the United Nations Command in Korea and the Korea-US Joint Command were established. Later, with the efforts of all parties, the Korean War ended briefly with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

But please pay attention! The Korean Armistice Agreement states that the armistice is not the last stop, which means that North Korea and South Korea are still at war. Later, peace gradually became the trend of world development, and the United Nations Army began to disband.

But for the purpose of controlling East Asia, the United States did not quit. But signed the mutual defence treaty between the united states of america and the republic of korea on the grounds that the war was not completely over. According to the treaty, the United States has nearly 30,000 troops stationed in South Korea, and the wartime command of the South Korean army is still controlled by the Korea-US Joint Command, which is subordinate to the US Pacific Command.

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What does it mean for South Korea to take back wartime operational command in advance?

On May 26th, many domestic media quoted the exclusive news of Korean National Daily as saying that South Korea will take back the wartime operational command from the United States ahead of schedule, and the completion time will be before the end of President Moon Jae in's term (2022). The source of the Korean National Daily is "a person who knows the inside story of the National Planning Advisory Committee of South Korea", and the information disclosed by this person comes from the report submitted by the Ministry of National Defense of South Korea to the National Planning Advisory Committee on the 25th.

The National Policy Planning Advisory Committee plays the role of the handover committee of President Moon Jae in. Now, all ministries and commissions in Korea are reporting their work arrangements to the Committee, so as to complete the work handover in this special period. There is a very important point in this, that is, the work of various ministries should be adjusted to Moon Jae in's policy thinking as soon as possible. The early withdrawal of wartime operational command mentioned in the report of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense on 25th is the concrete embodiment of the adjustment, because it is one of Moon Jae in's election promises to withdraw wartime operational command during his term of office. As early as when Moon Jae in took office, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense indicated that it would "obey the will of the Supreme Commander", which was regarded as fulfilling the preface.

At present, there is no objection to the transfer of wartime operational command between South Korea and the United States in principle, just because the conditions for the transfer agreed by both sides have not yet been reached. At the Korea-US security meeting in June 20 14, the two sides postponed the handover scheduled for June 20 15, and there was no specific time. At the Korea-US security meeting in August 20 16, the two sides agreed to postpone the transfer of wartime operational command again; At that time, the South Korean Defense Minister made it clear that the handover time was expected to be in the mid-2020s, that is, between 2025 and 2026. Looking at it now, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense proposed that the handover time should be 3-4 years earlier than previously expected.

It is worth noting that the principle set by the Korea-US Security Conference in August, 2065438+2006 is "the transfer of wartime operational command based on conditions", including three major conditions-the joint operational capability of the Korean army, the initial North Korean nuclear threat response capability, and the surrounding security environment. At the same time, the two sides confirmed that if the reunification of South Korea and North Korea or the denuclearization of North Korea occur during this period, the above conditions will no longer be considered and the handover will be carried out immediately.

At present, the focus of media reports is the early transfer of wartime operational command, but in fact this is only a small part of the report of South Korea's Ministry of National Defense. The report of South Korea's Ministry of National Defense puts forward a bigger plan, that is, to set up a "special committee on national defense reform" to implement Moon Jae in's promise of "national defense reform" during his election campaign. This plan is expected to propose South Korea's national defense reform plan within one year, with the aim of achieving balanced development of the three armed forces and improving the comprehensive combat effectiveness of the Korean army as much as possible.

According to the above plan, in order to achieve the goal of early recovery of wartime operational command, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense will also advance the completion time of strengthening the operational capabilities of the Joint Staff Headquarters, the kill chain and the Korean missile defense (KAMD) from the mid-2020s to the early 2020s. The promotion of these projects is also to realize the three major conditions of handover reached by South Korea and the United States at an early date. This means that South Korea will enter the fast lane of upgrading its military strength and expanding its armaments in the next few years.

As we all know, the operational command of the Korean Army is divided into two parts-peacetime operational command and wartime operational command. At present, the peacetime operational command is exercised by the Speaker of the South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters, and the wartime operational command is exercised by the joint commander of South Korea and the United States, that is, the commander of the US military stationed in South Korea. It is an important step for South Korea to achieve national defense independence as soon as possible, but fundamentally, it is also an important step to accelerate the improvement of South Korea's military strength, including the accelerated realization of its major interests. On the surface, this is the embodiment that the South Korean military "obeys the will of the Supreme Commander", but in fact, if there is a serious conflict between the "will of the Supreme Commander" and the interests of the military, then the South Korean Ministry of National Defense will not implement Moon Jae in's campaign promise so easily this time. In other words, Moon Jae in's policy orientation and the interests orientation of the South Korean military have reached a certain degree of consistency.

To sum up, South Korea's decision to take back wartime operational command in advance is actually a matter with multiple meanings. It can not only accelerate South Korea's national defense autonomy, but also accelerate South Korea's military strength and armament. At the same time, Moon Jae in's campaign promises such as "national defense reform" and "responsible national defense" have been realized, and he can also play an extra card in dealing with North-South relations. In a word, if this matter is realized during Moon Jae in's term of office, it will not only have practical and political significance, but also add a heavyweight cornerstone to President Moon Jae in's historical position.

The picture shows Moon Jae in visiting the South Korean Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Staff Headquarters on May 6, 2007. The man wearing a red tie on the left is Defense Minister Han; On the right, the man in military uniform is Mason Lee Town, Speaker of the Joint Chiefs; The second one on the right is Kwan jin Kim, then director of the National Security Office. The picture comes from Cheongwadae Photojournalist Group.

Author: Lin Haidong