SEOUL, Aug 18 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to regaining wartime operational control (OPCON) of troops from the United States (US) before his term ends, stressing the importance of self-reliant defence capabilities, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The president reiterated his commitment during a Cabinet meeting, saying the OPCON transfer should be completed as initially planned during his term, which ends in 2030.
The president also instructed officials to accelerate the implementation of a project to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, saying that independent defence capabilities and a strong alliance between Seoul and Washington should complement each other.
South Korea handed over OPCON to the US-led United Nations Command (UNC) during the 1950–53 Korean War.
It was subsequently transferred to the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command when the command was established in 1978. Seoul regained peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON remains in US hands.
Lee’s renewed call for the OPCON transfer came after US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he had instructed the Pentagon to “substantially” reduce joint South Korea-US military exercises, in an apparent overture for dialogue with Pyongyang, which has long accused the allies of using the joint drills as rehearsals for war.
Seoul and Washington began their annual summertime joint drills, Ulchi Freedom Shield, on Monday.
Lee said regaining wartime OPCON should be pursued as part of efforts to further strengthen national defence capabilities amid rapid changes in the global security environment and the evolution of warfare towards hybrid warfare.
To prepare for future warfare, military leaders with comprehensive operational capabilities should also be nurtured, the president said, instructing officials to implement “without wavering” the planned integration of the three armed services’ military academies into a single institution.
“When the alliance is firm, the foundation for security will become stronger, while our value and importance as an ally will grow as we strengthen our own capabilities,” Lee said.
-- BERNAMA-YONHAP