Seoul is warning that repeatedly changing the conditions for transferring wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the United States could make the long-planned handover impossible. The comments follow remarks by the U.S. Forces Korea commander that changed security conditions require new standards for the transfer. South Korea favors 2028 as a target date, while the current U.S. roadmap points to early 2029, and President Lee Jae Myung wants the transfer completed before his term ends in 2030. Seoul regained peacetime control in 1994, but wartime command still sits with the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command.

Full report: South Korea official says shifting goalposts could block wartime command transfer from US.