Seoul: A special advisory committee tasked with reforming the military has called for establishing a joint operations command as South Korea pushes for a handover of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The recommendation by the committee, comprising civilian, government, and military officials, comes as South Korea seeks to achieve the conditions-based OPCON handover from Washington within President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term ending in 2030.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the committee suggested establishing a joint operations command to unify the command structure and enhance the completion of wartime and peacetime operational command. Under the plan, the envisioned command is expected to spearhead the military's operational function currently led by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The JCS will instead focus on other roles, such as establishing military strategy, building military power, and dispatching military units for overseas deployment.
As part of the structural reform, the military was also advised to redefine the role and mission of the Strategic Command to ensure its strategic autonomy. The need for launching a space command to respond to changes in the space security landscape and future warfare trends was also underscored. Moreover, the Drone Operations Command was advised to be scrapped due to overlapping features with respective functions within military branches.
Addressing deterrence against North Korean threats, the committee called for the early deployment of key assets, such as high-power, high-precision anti-ballistic missiles and a long-range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM) interception system, as well as military satellites. Additionally, the committee proposed an annual average of a 10 percent increase in the defense research and development budget for cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, defense semiconductors, and robotics.
The committee also proposed measures to rebuild the military following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in late 2024, which led to the dismissal of senior military officers involved. Recommendations include revising military law to provide detailed rules on assessing the legitimacy of orders and exempting those who defy unlawful orders from punishment. Furthermore, the committee suggested scaling down the commanding authority of the martial law commander in the event of martial law imposition.
"The defense ministry plans to take into account the details announced by the committee in the defense reform policy following a review of its validity," ministry spokesperson Chung Binna said in a press briefing.