Speakers there accused the military authorities of south Korea and the U.S. of mulling setting up a new command to replace the "Combined Forces Command" under the pretext of transferring the right to command wartime operations.

It is natural to dissolve the "Combined Forces Command", they said, asserting that to establish a new command under this pretext is nothing but a cynical ploy to nullify the transfer of the right to command wartime operations and deceive the people.

The authorities claim that the issue can be settled if the title is changed and the post of the commander is taken by a south Korean general but this is a sheer farce because the right to command information, operation and logistics and the system for tactical command and automation, the core elements for carrying out a war, are still in hands of the U.S. forces, it held.

It was agreed, in particular, that the U.S. forces would not transfer the right to command the operations of the air force but still command tactical echelon drills of army corps- and division-level, large-scale assault landing operations, etc., a clear indication that the right to command wartime operations cannot be properly transferred, they noted.

The military authorities try to keep the mechanism of the "Combined Forces Command" as it is but the people will not be fooled any longer, they warned.