Following is an open letter to the Korean government, military and citizens by Burwell B. Bell, a retired U.S. Army general who served as commander of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and U.S. Forces Korea from 2006-08. ― Ed.


During the period 2006 to 2008, I was honored to lead the Korean-American Joint Headquarters, Combined Forces Command, in the defense of your nation. Our mission was to deter aggression from North Korea, and should deterrence fail and the North attack the South with a general military offensive, respond quickly and decisively to defeat the North Korean military.

I was blessed by having great subordinate leaders and troops from both our nations. I am certain that we would have prevailed then and will today had a tragic war broken out.

Throughout the period of my service, the South Korean government aggressively pursued what is known as “OPCON transfer”; that is, removing the American general from his traditional leadership role of Combined Forces Command, and replacing him with a Korean general and Korean military headquarters, which would lead any future war in defense of your nation. From that point forward, Americans were to have been in a supporting military role, while fighting side by side with our Korean ally.

I fully supported the American government’s position to conduct OPCON transfer to South Korea since it was first formally pursued by your government in 2006. My belief was that given the economic strength of South Korea, the high quality of its military, its highly skilled senior generals and admirals and, with the assured support of the U.S., South Korea should demonstrate its national sovereignty and independence by leading the fight against any future North Korean aggression.

As part of the OPCON transfer approach, I argued that the U.S. should assure South Korean citizens of our unending and guaranteed support by changing American military tours to full, three-year tours in South Korea, and permitting our service members to bring their families with them to your nation. I called this “Tour Normalization.”

Tour Normalization was the model we used in NATO during the Cold War in Europe. I was convinced that this model would continue to ensure effective deterrence of the North during a new era of South Korean national leadership of its own military forces during any future war.

Recently North Korea has threatened you, the Northeast Asia region, the U.S. and indeed the world with a nuclear holocaust. While we do not know exactly what nuclear capability North Korea possesses, we do now know their clear and expressed intent. They are directly threatening to destroy your nation and the U.S. with nuclear weapons.

This is the first time in the history of the world that any country has publicly and boldly threatened the irresponsible use of nuclear weapons in what would be a surprise preemptive strike on other nations. North Korea’s behavior is unacceptable, highly provocative and very dangerous. They have gone too far.

Through this destructive and irresponsible rhetoric, the North has directly challenged our two nations’ collective will and our alliance. Now we must act. North Korea must be aggressively contained, not just deterred. As the leader of the free world, the U.S. must lead this containment effort. In a letter to be published at a later date, I will detail my perspective of how this containment effort must be prosecuted.

For now, however, in order to lead this process the U.S. must first offer to the South Korean government an opportunity to permanently postpone the OPCON transfer. From this point forward and as long as North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, I will no longer support OPCON transfer.

It is my strong position now that if approved by the South Korean government, all efforts to execute the OPCON transfer should be halted. America must lead, and this is the first step. I feel deeply that the South Korean military is vastly superior to that of the North. However, once armed with nuclear weapons, the North will possess a capability that will put the South at a significant disadvantage on any future battlefield, or in any future negotiations.

The nuclear issue with the North must be one of America’s primary national security issues. As long as the North remains nuclear weapons-capable, America should lead our combined military forces.

For years since my service in South Korea, I have supported OPCON transfer. Due to North Korea’s stated intentions, I can no longer do this. I pray that the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. will serve both our nations until the oppressive rogue regime in the North collapses. Until the North completely terminates its nuclear program, it is now the responsibility of the U.S. to lead the military effort to deter or, if necessary, defeat the North.

I also continue to pray that someday soon my granddaughter, Haley Jin-Hui Bell, and I can walk across what was once the Demilitarized Zone into the northern area of a fully reunited and peaceful Republic of Korea. Until that time, it is my assessment the U.S. must lead our combined forces in defense of the Republic of Korea.

The U.S. must retain Combined Forces Command under American leadership, and begin a new era with our allies and coalition partners to effectively contain North Korea.