Anchor: The chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is visiting Washington to discuss joint operational plans against potential North Korean provocations. Our Kim Soyon has more.

Report: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Jung Seung-jo arrived in Washington D.C. Tuesday for a three-day visit. He met with his U.S. counterpart Gen. Martin Dempsey at the Pentagon Tuesday to discuss bilateral defense concerns.

The two officials signed the Strategic Planning Directive (SPD), which is an operational plan for the two countries’ militaries to prepare against potential North Korean provocations.

During talks with Dempsey, Chairman Jung asked for U.S. cooperation for the smooth transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul scheduled in 2015. He also briefed the U.S. on the Korean Peninsula situation following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Under the Strategic Planning Directive, South Korea will take the lead in conducting operations against North Korean provocation while the U.S. provides reinforcements with its troops stationed in South Korea and Japan as well as forces from the U.S. Pacific Command.

South Korea and the U.S. have been drafting the joint plan since North Korea’s shelling of the South’s Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

Neither Seoul nor Washington officially announced Jung’s visit to the U.S. Pundits in Seoul say it is likely in consideration of the situation on the peninsula as potential jitters exist following Kim Jong-il’s death.

A source said the Defense Ministry is apparently keeping General Jung’s visit as low-key as possible in order not to provoke Pyongyang in any way.

Kim Soyon, KBS World Radio News.