SEOUL, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- South Korea's defense chief left Seoul Thursday for visits to the United States and Japan for talks on security relations and North Korea's nuclear drive.
During his three-day stay in the United States, Defense Minister Kim Jang-Soo is scheduled to meet Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss Seoul's bid to regain wartime operational control from the United States and realignment of the U.S. Forces Korea, defense officials said.
Kim and Gates are expected to set a date for the transfer of wartime operational control, they said.
Seoul has pushed for regaining wartime control by 2012 as part of efforts to bolster the country's self-defense posture, which prompted Washington to seek handing over control by 2009.
Half of South Korea's lawmakers have sent a letter to Gates to delay the transfer, citing military and nuclear threats from North Korea.
