SAEDNEWS: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for continued progress on transferring wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea and strengthening the country’s independent defense capabilities.
According to SaedNews: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday that Seoul should continue without interruption with the planned transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea, Reuters reported.
His remarks came after US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to “significantly reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, saying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had responded to his efforts for dialogue.
During a cabinet meeting, Lee described the US-South Korea alliance and independent defense capabilities as mutually reinforcing. He said a strong alliance strengthens security foundations, while improving South Korea’s own capabilities increases its importance and value as an ally.
Lee also called for faster progress in South Korea’s nuclear-powered submarine program and the training of officers capable of carrying out integrated operations in future conflicts.
At a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Lee said civil defense drills held alongside major US-South Korea military exercises are defensive in nature and designed to protect the lives and safety of South Korean citizens.
He added that South Korea does not intend to use these exercises to attack North Korea or increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula, saying their purpose is to protect daily life rather than target a specific side as an enemy.
Trump wrote on social media on Sunday that the US military would “significantly reduce” joint exercises because “it is too late to cancel them.” He also said he has a “very good relationship with Kim Jong Un” and that North Korea is “not threatening and behaving respectfully.”
Trump and Kim’s last meeting took place in Panmunjom in 2019. Trump also shared a photo from his meeting with the North Korean leader on social media on Saturday, writing that he and Kim Jong Un “get along very well.”
North Korea has not commented on Trump’s message so far. It has only reported that Kim Jong Un attended a circus performance marking Liberation Day. On Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry described the US-South Korea joint drills as “an exercise for an aggressive war” against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
