President Lee Jae-myung: "Build nuclear-powered submarines in the 2030s ... Reclaiming wartime operational control will achieve self-reliant defense"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung reaffirmed on Oct. 1 the goal of building nuclear-powered submarines using South Korean technology by the mid-2030s. He also expressed his determination to complete self-reliant national defense by reclaiming wartime operational control and to strengthen the military's independent deterrence and response capabilities through advanced military power.
President Lee Jae-myung attended the 78th Armed Forces Day ceremony held at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province on Oct. 1 and once again stressed his commitment to self-reliant national defense.
President Lee said, "The Republic of Korea has the strongest military in its history. With defense spending alone amounting to 1.4 times North Korea's annual gross domestic product, we are the world's fifth-ranked military power and an economic powerhouse among the world's top 10. I am also proud to say that each and every one of our service members possesses skills at the highest level in the world." He added, "Yesterday in Ulsan, there was a launch ceremony for the ROKS Daeho Kim Jong-seo, the sixth state-of-the-art Aegis ship built with our technology." He continued, "By the mid-2030s, we will certainly and successfully build nuclear-powered submarines using our own technology."
He also said, "Self-reliant national defense is sovereignty itself," adding, "By reclaiming wartime operational control, we will put the finishing touch on it and, together with the people, achieve the dream of self-reliant national defense that has continued for half a century."
President Lee said, "Looking back, self-reliant national defense was never a task or dream belonging to only one government. President Park Chung Hee laid the foundation for the defense industry, saying that we should begin by making even a single rifle with our own hands. President Roh Moo-hyun pushed that dream one step further through his commitment to defense reform and wartime operational control. We have come this far carrying forward that dream of self-reliant national defense."
He also presented plans to modernize the military and strengthen future military capabilities. President Lee said, "We will certainly make a leap forward as a smart, elite, powerful military by advancing artificial intelligence and manned-unmanned teaming systems, restructuring the military accordingly, and redesigning the entire national defense posture."
In particular, he stressed, "We will further advance South Korea's three-axis system so that it can detect, intercept and respond to missile threats at an early stage. We will accelerate the development of future military capabilities, including high-energy laser interception weapons, an artificial intelligence-based command-and-control system and high-power missiles, and dramatically strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities led by our military."
President Lee also offered words of comfort to service members who were injured in a recent accident in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). He said, "My heart still aches when I think of our service members who were injured in an unfortunate accident in the DMZ not long ago."
He continued, "It makes us think once again that the ordinary days we enjoy stand on the risks taken by others. I wish them a speedy recovery and extend my deepest condolences to their families."
On inter-Korean relations, he said, "South and North Korea must find a mutually beneficial path for peace on the Korean Peninsula and build trust. Trust is not created with a single statement." He added, "It is built little by little only when words and actions are consistent."
He continued, "Our government will consistently pursue practical measures to reduce military tensions between South and North Korea. The knots in inter-Korean relations are complicated and tightly entangled, but we will continue to patiently and gradually untangle them."
Addressing North Korea, he said, "I expect and urge North Korea to join us now on the path toward restoring trust and resuming the dialogue that has been severed."
President Lee also issued a message to the military. He said, "As the military of the people, I am confident that it will devote itself solely to its fundamental mission of protecting the lives and safety of the people while upholding the Constitution and strictly observing political neutrality." He added, "The government of popular sovereignty has been clearing away the remnants of illegal martial law. Regrettably, we have held those within the military strictly accountable and substantially strengthened the democratic and institutional foundations by comprehensively restructuring military intelligence agencies, including the Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) and South Korea's Intelligence Command."
He continued, "We will continue to establish a culture and systems that allow our military to focus solely on its fundamental mission so that an illegal insurrection by the military can never, under any circumstances, occur again." He urged commanders, saying, "I ask you to make your utmost efforts, beginning with painstaking efforts by commanders, to quickly restore the people's shattered trust and restore the honor of the military."
President Lee Jae-myung said, "We will increase the number of technically specialized noncommissioned officers through a selective voluntary military service system and shift the force structure toward one centered on career military personnel." He added, "Young people will be able to choose how they serve: as enlisted soldiers with shorter service terms or as technically specialized noncommissioned officers who serve longer but can plan their futures through employment training and other opportunities." He continued, "We will further strengthen reserve forces through substantive and efficient mobilization training and a standing reserve system."
Regarding the background to the restructuring of the force structure, President Lee said, "The demographic cliff and the resulting decline in military manpower are another challenge before us. Preparing for change in advance is how we protect the people." He added, "The only way to overcome this challenge is strong defense reform."

He also presented support measures to improve the treatment of career military personnel. President Lee explained, "Beginning next year, the government is actively pursuing policies to improve service conditions, including substantially raising the base pay of junior officers and incentives for short-service noncommissioned officers."
To service members, he promised, "Your morale is the nation's defense capability. We will guarantee the human rights of service members and fundamentally improve their service conditions." He continued, "We will certainly build a military in which you can say that serving was a proud choice."
President Lee stressed, "Sacrifice for the country and the community must never end as an individual's sacrifice." He added, "We will continue our efforts to the very end in accordance with the principle that extraordinary sacrifices deserve extraordinary compensation."
To train officers prepared for future warfare, President Lee called for the establishment of the Armed Forces Academy. He said, "We must cultivate world-class elite officers equipped with integrated operational capabilities." He added, "I urge you to listen to various opinions, unite the military's resolve, and move swiftly and boldly to advance the establishment of the Armed Forces Academy."
Regarding plans to restructure the military in line with advanced technologies, he also stressed, "We will advance artificial intelligence and manned-unmanned teaming systems, restructure the military accordingly, and redesign the entire national defense posture to ensure that we make a leap forward as a smart, elite, powerful military."
President Lee also said, "We have set the national defense budget at 73 trillion won, an 8.2% increase from the previous year." He added, "This figure is higher than South Korea's entire national budget in 1997." He continued, "I promise that the government will continue to provide all necessary support without holding anything back."
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun, Seong Seok-woo Reporter