UN Command member states to meet this year to regularize gathering

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and others attend the ROK-UNC Member States Defense Ministerial Meeting at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Nov. 14, 2023. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Representatives of member countries of the United Nations Command (UNC) — who gathered for the first time since the 1950-53 Korean War last year — plan to meet again this year to regularize the meeting.

Observers read this as an attempt to solidify the UNC's role as an axis of deterrence against North Korea as geopolitical uncertainty grows with the U.S. presidential election in November approaching.

The Defense Ministry decided to hold the second ROK-UNC Member States Defense Ministerial Meeting in the second half of this year and has begun related work, including establishing a schedule for the event, according to multiple military sources on Wednesday.

In November last year, South Korea and the United States invited the defense ministers and ambassadors to Korea from 14 countries that sent combat personnel and three countries that provided medical support during the Korean War to the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), a meeting of the defense chiefs of the two countries, and agreed to revitalize the UNC.

“This year’s UNC meeting is likely to be held in Seoul around autumn, separately from the SCM held in Washington in November,” a military source told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Military authorities believe the UNC meeting will become regular this year. This reflects the current South Korean government’s intention to secure greater deterrence against North Korea by adding UNC cooperation to the existing axis of the ROK-U.S. alliance.

In his Liberation Day speech last year, President Yoon Suk Yeol emphasized the role of the UNC as the “biggest deterrent to blocking North Korea’s invasion of the South.”

The Defense Ministry also strengthened the status of the UNC through a joint declaration at the first ROK-UNCMS Defense Ministerial Meeting last year.

At the time, the joint declaration recalled the 1953 Washington Declaration, in which the countries that sent combat personnel to Korea under the UN flag said they would “respond jointly if hostile acts or armed attacks contrary to the principles of the United Nations that threaten the security of the Republic of Korea are resumed on the Korean Peninsula.”

The Defense Ministry plans to continue promoting the participation of the South Korean military in the UNC staff, which was tentatively agreed upon at last year’s meeting.

Currently, South Korea does not hold a position in the UNC staff department, but military authorities plan to increase its share by sending several high-ranking military officers to the department.

These discussions are based on the consensus between South Korea and the U.S. that the UNC will be established as a command center with 17 member countries in the so-called UNC “right sizing” plan. The plan to expand UNC member countries is expected to be promoted in the same context.

The U.S. is said to be preparing to expand the UNC's scope by broadening the membership to include “countries that will provide military and non-military support to the UNC in the future.”

There is also the view that the decision to regularize the UNC meeting was made with the U.S. presidential election in mind.

Namely, local media has speculated that officials are considering safety measures if a re-elected Donald Trump moves to abolish or change the UNC.

If North Korea-U.S. relations advance rapidly without a guarantee from North Korea to denuclearize, Pyongyang is expected to demand the disbandment of the UNC. South Korea cannot help but be concerned about having to give up one axis of its deterrence against North Korea.

During the Moon Jae-in administration, the UNC was perceived as an inconvenient entity in an atmosphere of appeasement toward North Korea.

An example is when the UNC attempted to promote a plan to have Germany join as a member state and to have Denmark, a country that provided medical support during the Korean War, expand its contribution to a military provider.

The Moon administration clearly expressed opposition, citing an infringement on South Korea's sovereignty.

Regarding this, there was talk within the military that there was “discomfort with the UNC's activities due to concerns that the UNC could become an obstacle to improving relations with North Korea.”

BY LEE KEUN-PYUNG, LEE YOO-JUNG, LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]