During the two-day Integrated Defense Dialogue, they are expected to discuss Seoul's proposal for another delay in Washington's planned OPCON transition to Seoul, defense ministry officials said. The OPCON transfer is slated for Dec. 1, 2015.
South Korea handed over OPCON to the U.S.-led U.N. troops during the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul regained peacetime OPCON in 1994.
The South Korean proposal came after North Korea's third nuclear test in February and its war threats against South Korea and the United States.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Defense Lim Kwan-bin, who represents South Korea at the biannual meeting, stressed the need for close cooperation between the militaries of the two countries to tackle various security issues and promote bilateral alliance.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia David Helvey, who leads the U.S. delegation, said the Integrated Defense Dialogue will discuss "issues to support peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also Asia-Pacific and other parts of the world."
In a meeting with officials of the ruling Saenuri Party in Seoul on July 18, South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin expressed hope that both countries will make a conclusion on the OPCON issue in a Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) slated for October in Seoul, according to a ruling party official who attended the meeting.
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