By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter


The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Thursday that it will create a new department to take charge of North Korean affairs, including inter-Korean military talks, to cope with the changing security environment.

The move comes as the Defense Ministry seeks to strengthen the role of the JCS in line with its defense reform plan on troop reduction and a balanced development of the three main branches of the military _ Army, Navy and Air Force.

The ministry plans to cut the number of its current 691,000-strong armed forces to 500,000 by 2020, while modernizing the military’s weapon systems.

``The envisaged department will be established under the existing strategic planning office of the JCS. It will deal with policies on North Korea and preparations for inter-Korean military talks,’’ a JCS official said.

General-level military talks between the two Koreas have stalled since June last year, though a few working-level meetings were held, including the latest one held last August.

The vice chief of the JCS, a four-star general, will take charge of the inter-Korean defense talks, the official said, adding the issue of getting back military operational control of the military during wartime from the U.S. is also to be dealt with by the JCS’s strategic planning office.

A senior government official hinted earlier this month that the government is seeking to regain wartime command from the U.S. by 2015. South Korea took back control of its military during peacetime in 1994, but wartime control has remained in U.S. hands since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

To that end, the JCS plans to increase the number of JSC personnel to 800 from the current 620 by 2008, according to the official.

The JCS also plans to formulate contingency plans on the Korean Peninsula on a test basis starting next year. Currently, the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) creates military contingency plans in case of an emergency on the peninsula such as a mass defections from the North or a regime collapse.

The JCS also seeks to create another department by 2010 for mobilizing reserve troops and military equipment, in case of war, the official said.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr