foreign minister-USFK chief

By Oh Seok-min

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Tuesday he lodged a complaint to U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel last week over recent remarks by the chief of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) on the inter-Korean border.

Controversy has arisen over comments made by USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson at a seminar in Washington earlier this month, when he said that, from the U.N. Command's (UNC) perspective, South Korean territory begins at the southern fence line of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), established under the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

Brunson also serves as commander of the UNC.

"Last week, I called Steel to the foreign ministry to convey our position following Brunson's remarks. I will raise the matter with the U.S. side again," Cho said during a parliamentary audit of his ministry, responding to a lawmaker's call for the government to issue "a clear warning" to Washington over the matter.

Some lawmakers and critics have accused Brunson of questioning South Korea's territorial sovereignty. Under the South Korean Constitution, the country's territory encompasses the entire Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands.

The UNC later clarified that South Korea's sovereignty was not in question, saying Brunson had been referring to the command's military and administrative responsibilities under the Armistice Agreement.

The government has also conveyed its concerns through various channels, and the U.S. has indicated that it fully understands and shares Seoul's concerns, according to government sources.

Lawmakers also urged the ministry to lodge a strong protest with Washington over Brunson's remarks that "conditions have changed" for South Korea to retake wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington.

"I believe we should retake wartime OPCON as soon as possible," Cho said, noting that the U.S. secretary of defense had reaffirmed support for the transfer at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual Asian security forum, in May.

"The two countries' military authorities were continuing discussions on the timing of the transfer, and the talks were proceeding well," he added.

The presidential office said Seoul and Washington were continuing consultations under their existing agreement, stressing that Brunson's remarks represented his personal views and not official U.S. policy. President Lee Jae Myung has also reaffirmed his commitment to an early transfer.

(END)

[Copyright ⓒ K-VIBE. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are prohibited.]