Chon An sinking triggers OPCON rethink in Seoul

摘要

The sinking of the South Korean corvette Chon An in the Yellow Sea (West Sea) has triggered fresh calls in Seoul to delay the transfer of wartime operational command (OPCON) control of the country's troops from the US to South Korea, currently scheduled for April 2012.rnThe head of South Korea's new presidential commission on national security, Lee Sang-woo, said on 11 May that the date should be renegotiated with Washington.rn"The OPCON should be transferred to us some day when we are capable of commanding a war independently. For now, however, it is right to delay the transition as South Korea is not ready," said Lee, one of thernclosest security advisers of President Lee Myung bak. Although he stressed that he was expressing only his personal view, his remark signals a renewed sense of emergency, as Seoul is convinced that the Chon An was sunk by a North Korean torpedo on 26 March.