South Korea’s Ruling Party Wants Faster Transfer of Military Control from U.S.
CHANGE! “We need not only the importance of the ROK-U.S. alliance, but also an attitude of self-defense that our country will protect itself.”
The debacle of the Afghanistan Abandonment is rippling throughout American foreign relations.
In the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, the head of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is now asking to gain operational control of its military, the leader of the country’s ruling Democratic Party.
“The Afghanistan crisis should be used as an opportunity to further nurture the will and ability of a strong independent defense by recovering wartime OPCON,” Rep. Song Young-gil wrote in a Wednesday Facebook post.
In wartime, combined U.S. and South Korean forces would be led by the head of United States Forces Korea, currently Gen. Paul LaCamera. The administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in has looked to accelerate the process of gaining full control over its military.
“We need not only the importance of the ROK-U.S. alliance, but also an attitude of self-defense that our country will protect itself,” Song wrote. The Republic of Korea is the official name of South Korea.
Approximately 28,000 American troops are on the border in the event North Korea decides to invade.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has made obtaining “operational control,” or OPCON, of those joint forces a major goal of his administration, but delays over the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues, appear to have made that impossible in its remaining term.
“We have to take the Afghanistan crisis as a chance to strengthen self-defence capability through OPCON transfer,” Song Young-gil, a lawmaker who serves as chief of Moon’s Democratic Party, said in the title of a Facebook posting.
Asked about the effect the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could have on the South Korea-U.S. alliance, an official of the presidential Blue House said it was carefully monitoring and considering the Afghan crisis, but did not elaborate.
The decision follows the South Korean ambassador’s harrowing escape from Afghanistan.
Ambassador Choi Tae-ho said in an interview with South Korean news service News 1 on Wednesday that the embassy staff and a South Korean civilian left Afghanistan as the sound of nearby gunshots grew in frequency and evacuation helicopters whirred overhead.
“It was a situation comparable to wars depicted in the movies,” Choi said.
South Korea’s foreign ministry issued an emergency evacuation order requiring all Korean nationals to leave by Sunday. Choi confirmed the embassy destroyed all sensitive documents on site before staff left the country.
Many diplomats who were required to leave on short notice did not even have time to return to their residences to pick up personal belongings, according to South Korean network KBS.
And while National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Biden had no intent to withdraw troops from South Korea and Europe, I am sure many of our allies are reconsidering their approach to national strategic defense…and least while the current occupant of the White House is in charge.
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Unexpectedly.
I understand their concern about the current administration, and agree that they should take more responsibility, starting with actually paying their own way.
“The debacle of the Afghanistan Abandonment is rippling throughout American foreign relations.”
Rippling? More like a tsunami.
Well more countries stepping up to take care of their own defenses might be a good thing long term but I wish it hadn’t been a decision made at the cost of us looking like weak unreliable fools.
Maybe because ‘we” ARE weak unreliable fools.
Grizz:
Delete the first word in your one sentence post.
When Americans whined ‘We’ve been in Afghanistan for 20 YEARS’ I ask them “how long were we in South Korea?”
I’d be worried also that Biden would order US troops to emulate the Capitol police and open the Border and fist bump the Norks as they entered South Korea. Unlike the innocent Trump supporters being conned there would be 10% for The Big Guy.
Next: Taiwan suddenly pours a huge amount of money into a nuke program (which, honestly, they should have already been doing).
Along with Japan and any other nation in the region with the capability.
Who says they haven’t been doing it? Ten bucks says Taiwan and Israel have an “understanding” when it comes to nukes.
I hope you’re right.
Gee, I seem to remember Trump being called a President that other countries would fear because they could not rely on him to defend them in times of trouble.
Can you blame them?
Japan and South Korea should no longer factor America into their self-defense planning. Recent events should be interpreted to mean they’re on their own if the CCP decides to flex its military might in the region.
China is no longer deterred by the US and it is unlikely the US would do anything substantive if China becomes a military aggressor in the region.
Time for South and East Asian nations to take care of themselves and form their own alliances. We’ve got enough of our own problems.
Trump spent a few years trying to get NATO countries and others to spend more on their defense, who knew all it would take is Joe Biden’s long history of foreign policy mistakes to make it happen in weeks.
It’s amazing what a show of incompetence will do for a country.
“Never underestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up.”
The more I think about that quote the more I wonder given barry is a simple narcissist and Joe is a pathological liar (always at his core so the dementia has not yet reached the core of who he is) … was barry just a “small time, urban street hustler” who just got lucky, smart enough to talk his way into academia and like so many entertainers, used by promoters who saw opportunity, … while Joe is the more sophisticate grifter who just doesn’t care if he gets caught, but knows those who eat his table scraps do care if they’re caught. … Maybe Joe’s “f*ck ups” are an intrinsic part of the scams … ? And, barry in his arrogance is just a prop Joe used once he was selected to be barry’s dummy. … We’re giving the individual players in the demorat party too much credit; they really are very sick, mentally ill with fundamental personality disorders.
We better pull out our 28,000 troops if we do give them control. Otherwise, SoKo could hold them for ransom later. Between the Dem Marxist and the neocons, I don’t know who I trust the least.
Logic check!
How does one hold 28,000 troops ransom?
It would take 28,000 troops only a few hours to effect regime change.
Doubt me? Research General Noriega. We removed him from office with less than that.
Suddenly NATO countries will fall all over themselves to build up their own militaries.
Biden is wicked smart.
Watch next he’ll say we can’t sell them munitions without the purchase of the associated “Diversity” and pronoun training that goes with it.
Ah yes, the NATO countries that pitched an absolute bitchfit when Trump dared demand that they spend the agreed-upon – AND STILL PATHETICALLY SMALL – amount of their budgets on military defense?
Korea, Japan and Austrailia better nuke up, and fast.
What Biden/Harris/pelosi/schumet/obama/mcconnell have unleashed upon the world…
Especially Japan. China is already threatening to nuke Japan if there is any interference in their upcoming invasion of Taiwan.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/china-threatens-to-nuke-japan-if-country-intervenes-in-taiwan-conflict/news-story/d9af14dc6b90628082e79ab4c77629e1
How long do you think it would take Japan to develop a nuke? My guess–measured in weeks, maybe single digit weeks.
They may already have them.
“TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s constitution allows it to possess nuclear weapons as long as they are kept to a minimum level necessary for self-defense, although the country has no intention of holding such arms, the government said in a statement.” (Jan 2007)
While I don’t claim to be an expert on Japan, I have a fair amount of business and personal experience. One thing you can say for certain–they are not stupid. My guess is that they long ago developed nukes to at least the point of being able to rapidly complete the process in a few days or weeks. Being Japanese, they don’t like to blatantly lie. That way, they can say they “don’t have nukes”–not mentioning that all they have to do is turn a few wrenches and they do.
They also know us very, very well. Bottom line–they would be stupid not to be at least well along. To repeat, they ain’t stupid.
Will Australia let their scientists out of the house to go to work?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
It’s clear that both Japan and Australia are under no illusions as to the nature of China and its military buildup. South Korea sadly is polarized; it’s not clear that a leftist administration in that country would stand up to the Norks and Chinese.
But Japan and Australia get it, and now they see that we might not be there for them. Look for Japan to get to a “pre-nuclear” status very quickly, so that they could assemble nuclear weapons within weeks of a decision to do so. Look for Australia to continue its purchase of advanced weapons (some from us, some from the UK).
In re: free Asian nukes.
About 1/4 of South Korean electrical power comes from nuclear power plants AND they export nuclear reactors to other countries. Some of their missiles have CEP’s that do not make sense with conventional explosives, but make perfect sense with counter-value nukes. Want to be they can’t come up with a nuke or two?
Japan has a large nuclear industry, and if you can land a spacecraft on an asteroid TWICE and return samples to Earth, you surely have an ICBM capability. I figure that they are turns of a screw from having nukes.
Taiwan: Leaving aside them having nuclear power plants and industry, they had scientists in the original Manhattan Project, have been caught and chastised for trying to build nukes, and were part of South Africa’s nuke program before it fell. And they have the same missile indicator as South Korea.
Everybody’s dance card it getting filled.
Subotai Bahadur
It is going to take a bloody nose to bring China in line. I am thinking destruction of artificial island bases. We also need Manhattan scale mobilization to address all mineral and supply vulnerabilities.
US troops are no longer in border positions. That ended years ago. They are in reserve, behind the MLR. And there’s a lot fewer of them.
The United States needs to be removed from most countries. Remove our troops, remove our equipment, and remove our tax dollars.
If we are going to allow despots to take control of places like Afghanistan, we might as well pack up and get out. Let those places be over run.
They don’t like the US. They just like our money. We’ll run out of that fast if we keep spending like we are.
“But, but, but, the US neeeeeeeds to be in those places. They have strategic value.”
For what purpose?
To exert the forces of the most racist military on earth? Colonizers? White supremacists?
If something happened with Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, etc., what would we do anyway? Todays’ military can’t figure out which bathroom to use, how many genders there are, and whether we should have drag queens dancing in our NCO clubs – let alone carry out a 100 hour war and win.
If it weren’t for the US providing security and protection to Korea since the 1950s, there would be no Kia’s or Hyundai’s on the roads. Our payment of their security costs allowed them to not pay for defense and to expand their manufacturing.
Agree.
“National Security” has nothing to do with it. Profits of the MIC has EVERYTHING to do with it. And the cushy no-show or little-show jobs awaiting anyone with a star post “retirement”.
My maternal grandfather was in WWI. Suffered mental and physical wounds the rest of his longish life. My father was killed in WWII. I did meet him, but have no memories. My mother’s foreign policy was always: “We should mind our own business.”
Enough is enough.
Chief, Taiwan and Korea make most of the complex semiconductors used in American industry today. If they go under we’ll have the mother of all chip shortages. The fab plants take a decade (and billions) to build. Let’s not abandon them just yet.
What you state is a fact. While I mentioned the manufacture of cars just to keep my comment short, the fact that Korea also supplies complex semiconductors, as well as many smart phones is proof positive that the US military protection allowed them to focus attention on manufacturing.
Now that they have their success, they want us to turn control of defense over to them. Which does not mean that they want our troops out. They want operational control of our troops.
Time to go.
It’s about damn time.
Hey Merkel — you’re next.
Could it be that Joe & Family and those who feed them are Xi CCP ? When one considers that accusations against Joe & Family involve relatively small monetary amounts, the CCP and others (or through others) could “own” / control the demorats and “deep state” bureaucracy for less than the annual cost of dementia medications and all other healthcare costs provide to members of congress (current and retired). And, than there are those who are “global citizens” –
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/08/18/lara-logan-carries-a-big-trumpet-about-afghanistan-if-the-u-s-government-wanted-it-to-be-different-it-would-be/#more-215573
South Korea has a very large army even without reserves. No way China conquers it without nukes.
China’s leader XI, has already stated in his annual statement for China’s military, prepare for war with the USA! If the US is not preparing for same with adequate offensive firepower enough to destroy China’s military capability then expect another “Pearl Harbor.” China only understands offensive firepower and lightning strikes. We better have a “real threat” capability and prepared to use it with our included allies, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and maybe India. SI’s call to prepare for War should not be taken lightly or you have already lost the fight! All need to be strengthening their offensive firepower capability like yesterday and stand ready to use it instantly. Get hot or go home!