USFK Commander’s DMZ Remarks Spark Partisan Dispute in Seoul
South Korean lawmakers are divided over comments by the USFK and United Nations Command chief about territory and authority in the Demilitarized Zone, raising fresh questions about sovereignty, alliance management and wartime command arrangements.
A dispute over comments by the commander of US Forces Korea has widened into a partisan argument in Seoul, with lawmakers divided over whether the remarks challenged South Korean sovereignty or were being used to provoke an unnecessary confrontation with the United States.
Gen. Xavier Brunson, who also leads the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command and United Nations Command, said at a forum in Washington on Wednesday that South Korean territory begins at the southern fence of the Demilitarized Zone. The DMZ is a four-kilometer-wide buffer separating the two Koreas, extending two kilometers on each side of the Military Demarcation Line.
Rep. Kim Byung-joo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea called on Brunson to retract the statement and issue a public apology. Kim argued that the 1953 Armistice Agreement gives the United Nations Command authority over access to and administration of the DMZ, but not the power to define the extent of South Korea’s territorial sovereignty. South Korea’s Constitution defines the country’s territory as the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands.
Kim’s criticism carries added weight because he is a retired four-star Army general who served as deputy commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command from 2017 to 2019, the highest position held by a South Korean officer in the binational command structure.
Rep. Jin Sung-joon, another Democratic Party lawmaker and chair of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, also said Brunson’s comments could create serious misunderstanding about South Korea’s sovereignty. Jin sought clarification of a separate remark in which Brunson questioned how sovereignty considerations should apply to an area placed under his management. He also called for Seoul to consider exercising operational control of its military in both peacetime and wartime and to review plans for a future combined command after wartime operational control is transferred.
The main opposition People Power Party pushed back on Sunday, accusing the Lee Jae Myung administration and ruling-party lawmakers of escalating a disagreement with a key ally. Party spokesperson Cho Yong-sool said concerns involving the United States should be handled through diplomatic consultations and formal expressions of regret rather than public accusations that could damage bilateral ties.
The disagreement touches on several distinct issues: constitutional claims over national territory, the United Nations Command’s role in administering access to the DMZ, and the military command arrangements governing South Korean and US forces. The political clash is likely to keep those questions in focus as Seoul and Washington manage their alliance and discuss the future transfer of wartime operational control.