South Korea and the U.S. are in talks to create a new joint military operation body to take over some key functions of a soon-to-be-dissolved joint military command, a high-ranking government source said Sunday.

The South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command has served as a command structure for joint operation of military forces of the two allies since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Both agreed to dissolve the CFC as South Korea plans to retake wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S. in 2015. Seoul handed over the control to the U.S. shortly after the start of the 1950-53 Korean War.

“As the CFC will be dissolved with the transfer of the wartime operational control to South Korea, diverse measures are being discussed to preserve the joint military operation role held by the command,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

“One of the ways being discussed is to create a new joint operation body which will take over the military operation functions carried out by the CFC,” he added.

Details about the envisioned body ― tentatively named “joint operation task force” ― have yet to be available but other sources said that talks are under way to launch the new organization by mid-2015 and start its official operation by the end of 2016.

The move comes amid lingering doubt that the two allies will be able to carry out joint military actions as effectively as before if the CFC is dissolved and South Korea retakes the wartime operating right.

Currently, about 28,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the war, which ended in a ceasefire, not a formal peace treaty.

The source said that the CFC is viewed as the “best model” in the world for joint military operations and South Korea and the U.S. military officials agree that it is necessary to create an organization that could fulfill the role of the command even after its dissolution.

According to the sources, military officials of the two allies seek to complete their talks over the creation of what some see as a “small-sized” joint operation command within this year. 

(Yonhap News)