Hegseth calls South Korea's push for OPCON transfer 'great,' depicts it as 'combat credible partner'

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 29 (IANS) US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth positively assessed South Korea's push to retake wartime operational control (OPCON) from the United States on Wednesday, calling it a "great" endeavour and underlining his view against a security relationship that "requires only US leadership in contingencies."

Hegseth made the remarks in a press meeting on a plane en route to Malaysia, responding to a question from Yonhap News Agency regarding the effort by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's administration to regain wartime OPCON within its five-year term that ends in 2030.

"I think it's great. More capabilities for our allies the better. We've been strong allies for many, many decades. That has not changed," the Secretary said.

"South Korea's willingness to step up on defence spending is critically important too. (They) live right next to a real-time and persistent threat. (They) also understand the totality of the neighbourhood that they are in," he added, apparently referring to North Korean threats facing the South.

The Secretary cast South Korea as a "combat credible" partner, while noting the need for allies to take greater security responsibilities.

"I think South Korea is a great example of a combat credible partner who's postured strongly, who has been a great host for our troops but also wants to and should be increasing willingness to take the lead. It's what we are asking our partners in Europe to take the lead," he said.

"It doesn't mean we are backing away. It doesn't mean we are not supporting. It is frankly common sense. Why would you want a relationship that requires only US leadership in contingencies when you've got a strong, motivated nation capable of doing that?"

The OPCON transfer issue is expected to figure prominently in the discussions that South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Hegseth plan to have during the allies' annual Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul on Tuesday next week.

Observers said US President Donald Trump's administration could countenance the idea of Seoul taking the lead in wartime scenarios given that it has been calling on allies and partners to undertake a greater security burden for their own defense.

Seoul and Washington have been working on a conditions-based OPCON transition. South Korea handed over its OPCON during the 1950-53 Korean War. It retook its peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON still remains in US hands.

During the press meeting, Hegseth dismissed a recent news report indicating that the Pentagon's new National Defence Strategy could set a US defence line that might include Japan, but could exclude South Korea and Taiwan, Yonhap news agency reported.

"I am not aware of that ... It's not something I am familiar with," he said. "I don't think that report is accurate."

He also clarified that US President Donald Trump's administration is not seeking to forge a NATO-like multilateral alliance system in the Indo-Pacific.

Pentagon officials have recently noted the need for Asian allies to contribute more to "collective defense," sparking speculation that the US might seek a multilateral security alliance in the region, as collective defence is a term used to refer to a multilateral alliance like NATO.

"We are working through bilateral, trilateral relationships. There is a mutual interest between the two countries. It could be multiple countries as well," he said. "We are not looking to create a formal broad alliance."

The Secretary also dismissed as "mischaracterization" reports that the draft of the Pentagon's new National Defence Strategy will mark a shift away from focusing on deterring the threat from China.

"A shift away would be the wrong characterization. I don't want to get ahead of the National Security Strategy. We haven't released it yet," he said. "Just because you recognize a need to focus on our own hemisphere does not mean that we are distracted from the pacing threat in the reality of what the current China really means."

Hegseth is on his Asia trip that includes stops in Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and South Korea.

--IANS

/as