No date was set for a Marine Corps operations command or promotion to general

No date has been announced for creating a Marine Corps operations command. No date has been announced for promoting Marine Corps officers to general. The Ministry of National Defense said both items remain under review. Other dates have been announced. Operational control of the Marine Corps 1st Division returns by the end of this year. Peacetime operational control of the 2nd Division returns within 2028. The Hoguk exercise runs from October 19 to 30. Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul visited Marine Corps Command on October 16.

The reform schedule came from a briefing on December 31, 2025. The Policy Briefing document numbers are newsId=148957384 and 156737720. Operational control of the 1st Division will return by the end of this year. The Army's 2nd Operations Command now controls the division. Operational control of the 2nd Division will return within 2028. The Army's Capital Corps now controls that division. Operational control means authority to direct operations.

Both wartime and peacetime operational control will return for the 1st Division. Only peacetime operational control will return for the 2nd Division. The Capital Corps will keep wartime operational control of the 2nd Division. NewsPim said on October 16, 2026 that the Joint Chiefs of Staff will evaluate for one year before the 2nd Division's return.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the Hoguk schedule on October 15. The 2026 Hoguk exercise will run from October 19 to 30. The ministry announced the same schedule at its regular briefing that day. The Policy Briefing document number is newsId=156785314. Hoguk is a large-scale field maneuver exercise led by the South Korean military. It is held every second half of the year.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said ground, sea and air forces will operate together. A real opposing force will be organized. The exercise will be two-sided. A command post exercise and tactical discussions will also be held. Some U.S. Forces Korea assets will participate. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said troops and equipment will move on major roads. Traffic congestion and noise may occur in some areas. It asked for the public's understanding.

Kang's remarks are in the ministry announcement. Kang visited Marine Corps Command and the Northwest Islands Defense Command in Balan, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on October 16. The ministry said Kang was briefed on the quasi-fourth-service reform. Kang said he would "push to transform the Marine Corps into an operations command that implements modern mobile warfare by strengthening the Marine Corps' status and capabilities." Kang said, "The Marine Corps stands at a historic turning point to change into a new form."

The ministry posted the inspection on its official X account the same day. Kang was briefed in the combat control rooms of Marine Corps Command and the Northwest Islands Defense Command. The ministry said Kang encouraged the troops. https://x.com/ROK_MND/status/2110998142896439510

The command structure plan is also from the ministry announcement. The Marine Corps commandant will handle military administration. Military administration means raising and managing units. The Marine Corps operations commander will handle military command. Military command means directing operations. The ministry said a three-star general is under consideration for operations commander. It said the Marine Corps commandant will be the senior officer. The quasi-fourth-service system keeps the Marine Corps under the Navy. The commandant will receive command and supervision authority comparable to service chiefs of staff. The ministry said the plan guarantees independence.

The system tasks are ministry review items. Promotion of Marine Corps officers to general will be reviewed. Creation of a separate Marine Corps operations command will be reviewed. The tasks were in the December 31, 2025 announcement. Then-Minister Ahn Kyu-back said promotion to general is quite symbolic of the quasi-fourth-service system. He said related legislation was enacted in 2019. He said the Marine Corps commandant could be assigned to a four-star position, including deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The ministry said the Armed Forces Organization Act will be revised. The Marine Corps' changed form and its missions will be written into the act. The missions include amphibious operations and island defense as a national strategic mobile force. The command structure, staff organization, equipment and weapons systems will also be addressed. The ministry said the work will move early. No specific schedule for the capability work was announced.

No opposing position was released. No party critical of the reform had issued an official position as of 11:00 on October 17, 2026. No critical organization had issued an official position. The ministry said wartime operational control of the 2nd Division will stay with the Capital Corps for the time being because operations in the western sector of the capital area were considered.

No date was set for creating an operations command. No date was set for promotion to general. Ahn said the promotion timing cannot be disclosed now. The subject of elevation to an operations command was not specified. The circumstances of the early end of Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) have not been released. The process behind the exercise adjustment has not been released.

The UFS link is limited to the Joint Chiefs of Staff announcement and Yonhap's report. UFS ended early in August. Seven combined field maneuver exercises were not held. Two will be held with Hoguk. Yonhap carried the Joint Chiefs of Staff remarks. The remaining five will be completed within this year. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercise takes recent warfare and realistic threats into account and will establish a firm readiness posture. Yonhap carried those remarks.

The Northwest Islands Defense Command was established in 2011. Marine Corps Command was disbanded in 1973 and re-established in 1987. NewsPim carried the two years on October 16, 2026. The government Policy Briefing said operational control of the 1st and 2nd Divisions will return to the Marine Corps for the first time in 50 years. The end of this year means the end of 2026.

The starting point is dated in 2025. Asia Business Daily said on October 16, 2026 that President Lee Jae-myung said at a ministry work report on December 18, 2025 that the quasi-fourth-service direction should be reviewed. The ministry announced the reform direction on December 31. It said the reform is a presidential campaign pledge and a national policy task. Ahn said in the briefing that the matter will be reviewed later under military structure reform toward 2040, including force, manpower and unit structures.

Kang visited the Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing in Gwangju and the Army's Ground Operations Command on October 14. He inspected readiness. The ministry posted the schedule on its official X account. https://x.com/ROK_MND/status/2110306977020579997

Kang also visited the combined command after taking office. U.S. Forces Korea posted on October 2 that the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea welcomed the defense minister's Camp Humphreys visit. https://x.com/USForcesKorea/status/2105911674003943556

The next confirmed schedules are Hoguk and the 1st Division's return. Hoguk begins on October 19 and ends on October 30. Operational control of the 1st Division returns by the end of this year. Creation of an operations command and promotion to general have no announced dates.