Former U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens said Thursday at a Washington forum that the planned wartime operational control transfer does not mean the end of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
Kathleen Stephens, who served as ambassador to South Korea from 2008 to 2011, made the remarks at a forum hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America. She said the time may be ripe for the handover and voiced confidence that Seoul and Washington can manage the transition. Philip Goldberg, ambassador from 2022 to 2025, expressed concerns that greater U.S. Forces Korea strategic flexibility and South Korea's increased defense role could move the allies apart to some extent. He also pointed to opportunities for deeper cooperation in the defense industrial sector and rejected claims that President Lee Jae Myung's administration has taken a hard left turn against America. Stephens noted bipartisan backing and growing public support for the alliance in South Korea, saying talk of anti-Americanism sounds anachronistic.
