Page 72 - 2018 Defense White Paper

transition while taking into full consideration changes in the security situation.

9. The Secretary and the Minister signed the Alliance Guiding Principles which were jointly developed to
ensure a strong combined defense posture following OPCON transition. The Secretary and the Minister
also signed the revision of the 2015 COTP, and committed to cooperate closely to meet the necessary
conditions for OPCON transition at an early date. The Secretary and the Minister endorsed the Future
Command Memorandum for Record (MFR) updating the 2013 MFR as well as the Terms of Reference for
Relationships between the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff, United Nations Command, and ROK-
U.S. Combined Forces Command. The Secretary and the Minister decided to maintain the current CFC
structure and reaffirmed the mutual commitment that the future CFC is to have an ROK four-star general
as the Commander and a U.S. four-star general as the Deputy Commander. The two sides are to work
toward initial operational capability (IOC) certification of the ROK-led combined defense posture in 2019.
In addition, the Secretary and the Minister pledged to determine the specific timing of OPCON transition
through regular evaluation and review of progress at the annual SCM and MCM.

10. The Secretary and the Minister received a report on the results of the U.S.-ROK MCM from the U.S.-ROK
CFC Commander and expressed their satisfaction with the progress in enhancing combined defense
capabilities and developing relevant operational concepts, military plans, and strategic documents.

11. The Secretary and the Minister decided to continue to strengthen cooperation in various areas, including
space and cyber, in order to ensure an effective joint response against newly emerging threats and
to bolster comprehensive Alliance response capabilities. The Minister committed to strengthen the
ROK military’s space capabilities and enhance Alliance space cooperation and praised the timely
and effective cooperation of the two sides during the reentry of the Chinese space station Tiangong-1
through space situational awareness information sharing. The Secretary and the Minister pledged to
continue to explore opportunities for bilateral and multilateral exercises to strengthen mutual space
operational capabilities, and to build mission assurance. The Secretary and the Minister reaffirmed
their commitment to strengthen Alliance cyber capabilities in light of the increasing scope of cyber
security threats. They pledged to share information regarding the reorganization of their respective
cyber commands in order to promote cyber security cooperation in the future.

12. The Minister and the Secretary praised advances in U.S.-ROK science and technology cooperation
th
since the 49 SCM in 2017, highlighting expanded technology cooperation in the domains of robotics,
autonomy, and directed energy. The Secretary and the Minister assessed that deepening and expanding

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