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By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will hold their high-level defense talks in Washington next week, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday, with the wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer and access control of the inter-Korean buffer zone expected to top the agenda.
The biannual Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) will take place from Tuesday through Wednesday (U.S. time), the ministry said in a release.
Kim Hong-cheol, deputy defense minister for policy, will lead the talks with John Noh, U.S. assistant secretary of war for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
"The two sides plan to discuss a broad range of alliance security issues, including the transfer of wartime OPCON and the combined defense posture, to ensure that the South Korea-U.S. alliance develops in a future-oriented and mutually beneficial manner," the ministry said.
The talks come as Seoul and Washington are working to transfer wartime OPCON to Korea from the U.S., with the Lee Jae Myung government aiming to retake the command before its five-year term ends in 2030.
Last month, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Xavier Brunson told Congress that the two countries seek to meet conditions required for the transfer no later than the first quarter of 2029.
Acting Deputy Defense Minister for Policy Yoon Bong-hee (L) and John Noh, deputy U.S. assistant secretary of war for East Asia, shake hands during their defense talks in Seoul in this file photo provided by South Korea's defense ministry on Sept. 24, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
South Korea handed over operational control of its forces to the U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) during the 1950-53 Korean War. Control was then transferred to the allies' Combined Forces Command when it was launched in 1978.
South Korea retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime operational command still remains in U.S. hands.
The conditions for the transfer include South Korea's capabilities to lead combined Korea-U.S. forces, its strike and air defense capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover.
Also expected to be high on the agenda is the issue of access control over parts of the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the heavily fortified border separating the two Koreas.
The Lee government seeks to secure control of civilian access to the section of the DMZ stretching 250 kilometers in length and 3 km in width amid efforts to restore ties with North Korea.
Seoul is said to have proposed jointly managing the area currently administered by the UNC under the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. Bills designed to grant the government control of nonmilitary access to the DMZ are pending in the National Assembly.
The UNC has voiced opposition to these moves and outright objected to the bills, saying they are "completely at odds" with the armistice agreement.
Next week's talks might also address the Trump administration's calls for allies to help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz that remains choked off since its war against Iran.
The U.S. has proposed an international coalition aimed at ensuring free navigation of the vital waterway, called "Maritime Freedom Construct."
Seoul has stopped short of committing to military involvement in the war, a stance that has drawn discontent from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The two sides are also expected to discuss bolstering deterrence against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, along with the allies' combined defense posture.
Bilateral cooperation in the areas of the naval maintenance, repair and overhaul market is another area likely to be discussed.
Launched in 2011, KIDD is a comprehensive senior-level defense meeting between the allies. The previous KIDD meeting was held in September last year.
elly@yna.co.kr
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