South Korea and the United States determined that “significant progress” has been made toward transferring wartime operational control(OPCON) to Seoul from Washington.

The defense ministry said Wednesday that the two sides had made the assessment during the South Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Seoul.

A ministry official said that during the biannual defense talks, the allies reviewed the progress on their “condition-based” OPCON transfer and agreed that “significant” progress has been made in meeting the three conditions set for the transition.

South Korea asked for U.S. cooperation on measures to reduce inter-Korean military tensions.

The two nations agreed on the need to plan joint exercises, reflecting changes in the security environment, to maintain a strong combined defense posture.

They also agreed to expand joint exercises and training to address digital, space and missile threats.