Ground component of S. Korea-US joint command becomes standing unit

The ground component command of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) has been turned into a standing unit, military officials said Friday, marking a step forward in Seoul’s push to retake wartime operational control from Washington. The transition of the Combined Ground Component Command (CGCC) into a standing component command was approved in a bilateral Permanent Military Committee meeting held in late October, and the unit went into operation last month, according to the officials. The move for the component command, previously only activated during contingency operations, allows American troops to be regularly assigned as members of a combined combat staff to jointly establish combined operation plans and plans for large-scale drills like the springtime Freedom Shield exercise. The transition comes as South Korea has been seeking to achieve the conditions-based handover of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul within President Lee Jae Myung’s five-year term ending in 2030. As part of such efforts, Seoul and Washington have agreed to seek the certification

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