South Korea is ready for OPCON handover, defense chief tells US lawmakers

South Korean Minister of Defense Ahn Gyu-back delivers an address on Korea’s strategic response to cross-regional security threats at the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 30, 2026. (courtesy MND)

South Korean Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back reiterated Seoul’s commitment to regaining wartime operational control during a meeting with a US congressional delegation at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.Ahn told reporters Sunday he had “fully explained about the 2020 agreement by South Korea and the US that 94% of the conditions for the transfer of wartime OPCON had been met.”“I conveyed our position to the US lawmakers that the conditions-based transfer of OPCON has been carried out faithfully, and that there would be no difficulties if OPCON were transferred tomorrow,” Ahn told reporters, noting that the lawmakers appeared to “understand and be satisfied with” Seoul’s OPCON preparations.Ahn, who was in Singapore to attend the annual IISS Asia Security Summit, met with delegations from the US Senate and House of Representatives on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.Ahn similarly expressed Seoul’s commitment to regaining OPCON in a speech at the summit on Saturday, where he stressed that the South Korean military was “actively driving the enhancement of independent capabilities necessary for ROK-led defense of the Korean Peninsula” while maintaining a “robust ROK-US combined defense posture.”“The Republic of Korea will concurrently advance efforts to strengthen both the ROK-US alliance and our self-reliant national defense,” he asserted, referring to South Korea by its formal name. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was attending the same summit, said he welcomed the move to transfer OPCON to Seoul, adding that it was encouraging to see allies working to gain more operational control.Responding to South Korea’s pledge to increase its defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), he said, “We applaud the pragmatism and leadership demonstrated by Seoul.”Ahn called Hegseth’s remarks “quite significant.”