UN Command is still an axis of war deterrence

Ahn Kwang-chan
The author, a former head of national crisis management in the Blue House, is chairman of the Korea-UN Command Friendship Association.

On July 7, 1950, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 84 on the establishment of the United Nations Command. Based on the resolution, the UN Command was founded on July 24 that year. The UN troops played a pivotal role in repelling the North Korean forces and rescuing South Korea from a desperate security crisis. The UN Command also participated in the signing of the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953.

In the 1950-53 Korean War, 16 UN members sent their combat troops, six members provided medical assistance, and 53 offered other types of aid. The tragic war took the lives of 150,000 people, including 46,609 soldiers mostly from the U.S. Thanks to the sacrifice of the UN forces, South Korea could develop and prosper like today.

The UN Command had been devoted to defending South Korea since the Korean War, but since the establishment of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) in 1978, the UN Command transferred its mission of defending South Korea to the ROK-U.S. CFC. Yet the UN Command has been preparing to carry out its role of providing armed forces to South Korea from UN members in times of crisis to help maintain the armistice system. In other words, the function and role of the UN Command continues under the current armistice system. The command’s role of deterring war and keeping peace on the Korean Peninsula will continue for a while.

South Korea and the U.S. have been preparing for the transfer of the wartime operational control (Opcon) based on their agreement in the 50th Security Consultative Meeting in 2018 to appoint a four-star Korean general as the commander of the ROK-U.S. CFC and a four-star American general as the vice commander of the joint command. Even after the Opcon returns to South Korea, the ROK-U.S. CFC will continue to develop their joint defense posture in a future-oriented way.

If a new ROK-U.S. CFC system led by a four-star Korean general is launched, the UN Command had better optimize its size to efficiently manage the truce system and smoothly provide troops in emergency. If more Korean staff officers are dispatched to the UN Command to strengthen cooperation with the Korean military under the new CFC, it will help reinforce our national security given the stronger need for communication channels between the two allies after the UN Command was relocated to Pyeongtaek from Seoul.

Some progressive groups and North Korea maintain that the UN Command will serve as a supreme command headquarters in times of crisis even after the Opcon is transferred back to South Korea. They claim that the U.S.’s move to augment the UN Command, citing the “power vacuum” from the Opcon transfer, is only aimed to perpetuate its military control of South Korea.

But such claims stem from their misunderstanding of the command system of the ROK-U.S. CFC. The UN Command will continue to deter war in the peninsula and contribute to building peace and leading to reunification of the divided land.

In a recent meeting among the representatives of the UN Command Military Armistice Commission, a consensus was built that the misunderstanding of the UN Command should be corrected and the establishment of a civilian group dedicated to friendship promotion during peacetime is needed. As a result, the Korea-UN Command Friendship Association (KUFA) was founded on May 15 from among former generals with experience in working at the UN Command, diplomats, scholars and journalists.

We will promote the function and role of the UN Command in the future — and strengthen friendly activities with the UN Command and those countries that fought in the war or provided medical support, as well as with the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission. Members of the 16 countries who fought for South Korea gathered in Washington DC on July 27, 1953 — the very day when the Armistice was signed — and announced a Washington declaration in which they vowed to participate in a war on the Korean Peninsula if it breaks out again.

Regrettably, the memories of the declaration in Washington are being forgotten after seven decades. As the Cold War is not over yet on the peninsula, however, we must continue to uphold the value of the declaration 7 decades ago. We will do our best to propagate the spirit of the declaration to the rest of the world so that the UN Command can continue to play a key role in ensuring the security of the country.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.