CRI听力:US and South Korea Agree to Delay Wartime Control Transfer

The United States has agreed to delay the transfer of wartime control of South Korean troops which was previously scheduled for next year.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the transfer will occur when South Korea has "necessary defensive capabilities".

"We signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines a conditions-based process for transferring a wartime operational control of our allied forces. While this agreement will delay the scheduled transfer of operational control, it will ensure that when the transfer does occur, Korean forces have the necessary defensive capabilities to address an intensifying North Korean threat."

Hagel made the announcement alongside South Korea's Defense Minister Han Min Koo at the Pentagon.

Han has hailed the decision.

"Secretary Hagel and I believe that the rotational deployment of battle ready US forces will be able to support stability in the Korean peninsula. And also the combined division will be able to contribute significantly on a tactical level."

The US has kept combat forces on the Korean Peninsula since fighting related to the Korean War halted in 1953.

There are still about 28-thousand American troops based in the South.

For more on this, I earlier spoke to Professor Shen Dingli, Associate Dean of Institute of International Studies at Fudan University.