US admiral downplays commmand transfer to S.Korea: The timing of a planned switch of US wartime command to South Korean forces is "not that important," a top US military officer said Tuesday.
In the case of war with North Korea, current plans call for an American military commander to lead the 28,500 US troops deployed in South Korea as well as that country's 640,000-strong force.
Under an alliance agreement, the United States would transfer full operational control to South Korea in 2015 but Seoul has asked to postpone the transition. A deadline for 2102 was already delayed.
Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of US Pacific Command, which oversees all American forces in the region, sought to play down the significance of the timing at a news conference and did not say if the handover would go ahead as scheduled.
"But as we are moving toward 2015, it will be based on what the conditions are at that time," Locklear said.
