South Korean foreign minister protests US commander’s DMZ border comment to US ambassador

During a parliamentary audit, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun announced he had filed a diplomatic protest with U.S. Ambassador Michelle Steel over statements made by USFK Commander General Xavier Brunson at a Washington seminar. Brunson claimed that, from the United Nations Command’s perspective, South Korean territory begins at the southern fence line of the Demilitarized Zone, a comment that sparked accusations of questioning South Korea’s sovereignty.

The UNC later clarified that the remark pertained solely to the command’s military and administrative duties under the armistice, not to the nation’s constitutional borders. Lawmakers demanded a firm protest and urged a swift return of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul, a move the U.S. defense secretary had reaffirmed at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Cho said discussions on the timing of the OPCON transfer were ongoing and progressing well. The presidential office reiterated that Brunson’s remarks reflected personal views and not official U.S. policy, while President Lee Jae Myung reiterated his commitment to an early transfer.