韩国希望在未来两年内从美国手中收回其部队的战时指挥权，但分析人士表示，华盛顿拒绝承诺具体日期，以保持对其视为遏制中国至关重要的军队的控制。
South Korea wants to take back wartime command of its troops from the United States within the next two years, but analysts say Washington is refusing to commit to a date to keep a hold on a military it sees as vital to countering China.
争议的焦点在于战时作战指挥权（OPCON），自1950年朝鲜战争爆发后不久，该指挥权一直掌握在美国手中。
The dispute is over wartime operational control, known as OPCON, which the US has held since shortly after the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950.
根据现行安排，若再次爆发战斗，指定的韩国部队将被编入联合部队司令部，这是一个由美国陆军上将泽维尔·布伦森率领的联合作战指挥总部。具体涉及哪些部属属于机密，但据信包括所有前线陆军部队以及空军和海军的大部分力量。
If fighting were to break out again under the current arrangements, designated South Korean units would be assigned to the Combined Forces Command, a joint warfighting headquarters led by US General Xavier Brunson. The exact units involved are classified, but are thought to include all frontline army units and large parts of the air force and navy.
据报道，韩国国防部自今年初起一直在推动敲定战时作战指挥权移交的日期，但分析人士称，华盛顿官方立场坚持认为首尔尚未满足其设定的条件。
South Korea’s defence ministry has reportedly been pushing since the start of this year to nail down a date for the OPCON transfer, but analysts say Washington officially maintains that Seoul has not yet met its conditions.
韩国军事问题研究院高级研究委员金烈洙表示，美国还有一个“未公开的动机”：保持对韩国军队的影响力，以应对来自中国的挑战。
Kim Yeol-soo, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs, said the US also had an “undeclared motive”: retaining influence over South Korea’s military to address challenges from China.
庆南大学远东问题研究所研究委员都镇浩表示赞同。都镇浩对《亚洲周刊》表示：“华盛顿希望利用同盟关系不仅遏制朝鲜，还要遏制中国。”
Doo Jin-ho, a research fellow at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, agreed. “Washington wants to use the alliance not only to deter North Korea but also to contain China,” Doo told This Week in Asia.
“因此，它可能担心移交指挥权后，其对韩国及其军队的影响力会减弱。”他指出，中国山东省距离朝鲜半岛仅约300公里（186英里），喷气式战斗机飞行不到10分钟即可抵达。都镇浩补充道：“从战略价值来看，美国无法承受失去韩国。”
“For this reason, it may fear that its influence over South Korea and its military could weaken following the transfer.”He noted that China’s Shandong province was only about 300km (186 miles) from the Korean peninsula, a distance jet fighters could cover in less than 10 minutes. “In terms of strategic value, the United States cannot afford to lose South Korea,” Doo added.
布伦森同时指挥驻韩美军约2.85万名士兵，此前曾表示，美韩同盟必须适应朝鲜半岛以外的威胁——这一立场也得到了其他美国将军的呼应——且任何指挥权移交都应以条件为基础，而非绑定政治时间表。
Brunson, who also commands the roughly 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, has previously said that the alliance must adapt to threats beyond the peninsula – a stance echoed by other US generals – and that any transfer of control needs to be conditions-based rather than tied to a political timeline.
本月初在华盛顿发言时，布伦森引用朝鲜近期的导弹发射和其他挑衅行动，作为安全形势发生变化的证据，并补充说，双方首先需要新的标准、关键能力和完全的任务准备状态。
Speaking in Washington earlier this month, Brunson cited recent North Korean missile launches and other provocations as evidence of an altered security landscape, adding that the allies needed new standards, critical capabilities and full mission readiness first.
韩国总统李在明上周表示，韩国“必须尽早收回作战指挥权”，且“完全有能力做到这一点”。他称此举对国家主权至关重要，并表示相关谈判“总体进展顺利”。
President Lee Jae Myung said last week that South Korea “must reclaim OPCON at an early date” and is “fully capable of doing so”. He called the move essential to national sovereignty and said talks on the topic were “generally progressing well”.
与此同时，韩国国防部表示，美方改变或增加移交指挥权的要求，有“移动门框”（改变既定目标）之嫌。
Seoul’s defence ministry, meanwhile, has said that the US changing or adding requirements for a transfer of command risks “moving the goalposts”.
周一，在国会对国防部的国政监察中，这一问题达到高潮，国防部长官姜信哲与保守派在野党“国民力量党”议员发生冲突。
The issue came to a head on Monday at a parliamentary audit of the defence ministry, where Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul clashed with lawmakers from the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP).
国民力量党议员成日宗坚称，“国家的生存和国民的生命安危攸关”，敦促在就可能移交作战指挥权向总统提供建议时保持“极度谨慎”。
PPP lawmaker Sung Il-jong insisted that “the very survival of our country and the lives of our people are at stake”, urging “extreme caution” when advising the president on a possible OPCON transfer.
姜信哲反驳称，认为移交指挥权会危及韩国是言过其实，并援引美以对伊朗战争为例，补充说如果与朝鲜爆发战争，首尔“不一定”能指望美国提供援助。
Kang countered that it was excessive to suggest the handover would endanger South Korea, adding that Seoul might “not necessarily” be able to count on the US if war broke out with the North, after referencing the US-Israel war on Iran.
他表示，指挥权移交应在确保互信的条件下进行，由韩国将军指挥联合部队，美军提供支援。
He said the transfer of command should proceed under conditions that ensured mutual trust, with a South Korean general commanding the combined forces and the US military providing support.
这些言论被解读为姜熙哲对美军能力和承诺表示怀疑后，国防部发表澄清称，是成日钟提出了美国在伊朗面临的困难，而国防部长只是进行了反驳论证，强调了相互信任的重要性。
After these remarks were interpreted as Kang doubting US military capabilities and commitment, the ministry issued a clarification saying it was Sung who had raised the difficulties America was having in Iran and the defence minister was merely making a counterargument in which he stressed the importance of mutual trust.
都钟焕表示，拿伊朗作比较是站不住脚的，因为朝鲜半岛的冲突很容易升级，不仅会牵涉美国和日本，还会牵涉中国和俄罗斯。
Doo said the comparison with Iran was flawed as a conflict on the Korean peninsula could easily escalate to draw in not only the US and Japan on one side but China and Russia on the other.
他说，姜熙哲的言论“反映了首尔方面的疑虑，即如果战争爆发，华盛顿是否愿意冒着美国人直接受到伤害的风险来帮助韩国”。
He said Kang’s remarks “reflect suspicions in Seoul over whether Washington would be willing to risk direct harm to Americans to help South Korea if a war broke out”.
他说，许多韩国人现在想知道，唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下的美国是否会转而“以韩国为代价，寻求一个在政治上方便的与敌人的妥协”。
Many South Koreans now wondered whether the US under President Donald Trump would instead “seek a politically convenient compromise with the enemy” at the South’s expense, he said.
据姜熙哲称，首尔正在与华盛顿就设定战时作战指挥权（OPCON）移交目标年份进行密切磋商，下一次年度安全磋商会议（SCM）——汇集两国国防部长的会议——被视为其部门可能宣布这一事项的场合。该会议通常安排在11月，但有报道称今年可能会推迟。
According to Kang, Seoul is in close consultation with Washington on setting a target year for the OPCON transfer, with the next annual Security Consultative Meeting that brings together the two countries’ defence chiefs mooted as a possible venue for an announcement by his ministry. That meeting is typically scheduled for November, though reports suggest it might be postponed this year.
执政的韩国共同民主党内部要求首尔在战时作战指挥权移交问题上采取更强硬立场的压力也在不断增大。
Pressure for Seoul to take a harder line on the OPCON transfer has also been growing within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
向总统提供国防政策建议的共同民主党议员金炳柱表示，如果华盛顿持续阻碍进展，首尔应宣布其独立行使战时作战指挥权的意向。
Kim Byung-joo, a Democratic Party lawmaker who advises the president on defence policy, has said Seoul should declare its intention to independently exercise OPCON if Washington keeps blocking progress.
他还呼吁立法明确规定，总统作为韩国武装部队最高指挥官的权力应在平战时均全面适用。
He has also called for legislation clarifying that the president’s authority as commander-in-chief of South Korea’s armed forces should fully apply in both peacetime and wartime.
然而，姜熙哲周一拒绝了这种做法。“我的原则是，战时作战指挥权必须通过韩美之间的密切磋商、在确保相互信任的前提下移交，”他说。
However, Kang on Monday rejected such an approach. “My principle is that OPCON must be transferred through close consultations between South Korea and the United States, with mutual trust assured,” he said.