Korea and the US have agreed to create a new joint command that will replace the Combined Forces Command when full operational control of Korean troops return to Seoul in 2015. The new body is expected to take over key wartime functions of the CFC.
Korea and the US agreed to form a joint task force that will come up with ways to effectively combine the command structures of the Korean and US militaries at the annual security talks in Washington. The allies agreed to identify specific types of nuclear threats by North Korea and map out joint deterrence strategies tailored to each type of threat by 2014. Through the OPCON transfer, South Korean forces will play a leading role and their American counterparts will play a supporting role.
The absence of a control tower will wreak havoc in combined operations in the event of contingencies. And South Korea still lacks in intelligence gathering and precision strike capabilities. Moreover, tensions in the Korean peninsula remain unchanged, making anxieties about the OPCON transfer plausible. The US has no reason to oppose the creation of the mini-CFC, considering China's strong emergence in Northeast Asia.
Although South Korean military needs to gain the ability to stand on its own feet, a sudden independence could be disastrous to the national security of Korea. Therefore, I believe it is crucial that the two countries form a mini-CFC.
