Former vice foreign minister says wartime OPCON transfer ‘must happen’ if Seoul is serious about national sovereignty

U.S. Forces Korea’s (USFK) recent portrayal of South Korea as a “floating aircraft carrier” should be read primarily as a message to China — not as a signal that Seoul should rethink its own role or posture in a Taiwan contingency, Choi Jong-kun, a former Blue House security official and vice foreign minister under the Moon Jae-in administration, told Korea Pro.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum, Choi said such language reflects Pentagon-level signaling toward Beijing rather than policy guidance directed at South Korea. Interpreting it as pressure on Seoul, he warned, risks distorting USFK’s core mission on the peninsula: deterring North Korea and preventing miscalculation.

U.S. Forces Korea’s (USFK) recent portrayal of South Korea as a “floating aircraft carrier” should be read primarily as a message to China — not as a signal that Seoul should rethink its own role or posture in a Taiwan contingency, Choi Jong-kun, a former Blue House security official and vice foreign minister under the Moon Jae-in administration, told Korea Pro.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum, Choi said such language reflects Pentagon-level signaling toward Beijing rather than policy guidance directed at South Korea. Interpreting it as pressure on Seoul, he warned, risks distorting USFK’s core mission on the peninsula: deterring North Korea and preventing miscalculation.

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