Seoul’s push for wartime control draws warning from ex-US Forces Korea commander

Retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams warns South Korea’s push for wartime command transfer may strain U.S.-Korea military coordination and alliance unity. Former U.S. Forces Korea commander Robert Abrams, a retired U.S. Army general, speaks to Stars and Stripes at the Westin Josun Hotel in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 15, 2026. (Yoojin Lee/Stars and Stripes) A former top U.S. commander in South Korea is challenging President Lee Jae Myung’s argument that putting a South Korean general in charge of allied forces during wartime is a matter of national sovereignty. Retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams warned this week that the argument could signal a desire by Seoul to make military decisions independently of Washington, potentially weakening the allies’ joint approach to defending South Korea.

“The drumbeat of sovereignty signifies a desire for unilateral actions by a [South Korea]-led force,” he said Monday during an online discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The dispute centers on a longstanding plan to transfer wartime operational control, or OPCON, from an American general to a South Korean one. Under the current arrangement, South Korea commands its military during peacetime. If war breaks out, designated American and South Korean forces would operate under Combined Forces Command, which is led by a U.S. general. The decision-making process would remain bilateral. The planned transfer would