South Korea and the United States held a key defense dialogue in Washington this week to address the transfer of wartime operational control and follow-up measures for Seoul’s planned acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
The two-day Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue took place Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.
The South Korean delegation was led by Kim Hong-cheol, deputy minister for national defense policy. The US side was headed by John Noh, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, and James Finch, acting deputy assistant secretary for East Asia. Senior officials from the defense and foreign affairs sectors of both countries also attended.
During the meeting, the allies reviewed the overall status of bilateral defense cooperation and exchanged policy views on strengthening the alliance’s combined defense posture, the ministry said.
The two sides also reaffirmed their commitment to implementing agreements reached during the October 2025 summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump, as well as the joint statement adopted at the 57th Security Consultative Meeting in November.
At the summit in October, Seoul and Washington agreed to move forward with working-level consultations on South Korea’s plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
The allies also agreed at the 57th SCM to complete this year a Full Operational Capability verification assessment related to the transition of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea.
Under the allies’ Conditions-based Operational Control Transition Plan, the OPCON transition process consists of a three-stage assessment and verification procedure: Initial Operational Capability, Full Operational Capability and Full Mission Capability. The transfer is finalized after approval by the leaders of both countries.
“The two sides assessed that the meeting provided an important foundation for advancing practical cooperation to further strengthen the alliance,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that the allies agreed to deepen cooperation further to achieve shared security goals on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region.
Seoul and Washington plan to hold the 58th SCM in November, where the allies aim to finalize the FOC verification process related to OPCON transition.
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