한미국방장관 전화회담... "전작권 전환 흔들림 없이 지원해나갈 것"<br /><br />Defense chiefs from South Korea and the U.S. held phone talks on Tuesday to discuss the transfer of wartime operational control, joint exercises and defense cost sharing.<br />Seoul's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper reaffirmed that they will "unwaveringly" push to transfer wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul.<br />Esper is also expected to have told his South Korean counterpart once again that there needs to be an increase in Seoul's payment for stationing U.S. troops in South Korea.<br />But authorities say, reducing the number of U.S. troops in the country has not been discussed.<br /><br />
