Seoul, Washington back inter-Korean military accord

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - South Korea and the U.S. have reaffirmed its support to the last year’s inter-Korean military accord aimed at reducing border tensions, Korean media reported on Tuesday.

The South Korean and the U.S. defense chiefs -- Jeong Kyeong-doo and Patrick Shanahan respectively -- met in Washington on Monday, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had agreed to Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) in their third summit and the Koreas' defense chiefs had signed the accord in Pyongyang last September.

“The [U.S.] secretary [of defense] and the [South Korean defense] minister assessed that implementation of the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) has contributed to the easing of military tension and confidence building on the Korean Peninsula,” Yonhap quoted a joint statement from Seoul's Defense Ministry and the Pentagon as having said.

The CMA entails a series of trust-building and arms control measures under a broader scheme to halt all hostile acts against each other by South Korea and North Korea.

Yonhap said the defense ministers also “reiterated their will to closely cooperate to expedite the fulfillment of conditions needed for Washington's envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul”.

“The two sides reaffirmed the commitment to maintain an unwavering combined readiness posture while continuing to support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the news agency added.

Last month, South Korea and U.S. replaced the large-scale Key Resolve exercise to Dong Maeng (alliance) command post exercise.

Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, said it has strengthened the militaries' combined readiness and contributed to the groundwork for the OPCON transfer, according to Yonhap.

Critics have said that the new exercise was a downsized version of the Key Resolve, raising concerns that it could undermine the allies' defense posture.