SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday reaffirmed his firm commitment to the early recovery of South Korea's wartime operational control (OPCON) from the United States.
Lee said during a press conference that Seoul must and definitely can retrieve it ahead of schedule, saying that the term "transfer" regarding OPCON, which had been used previously, should be changed to terms such as recovery or retrieval.
Lee underscored that military sovereignty is one of the most critical core components of national sovereignty, saying OPCON must be recovered swiftly to meet the minimum requirements of a sovereign state.
Expressing his firm confidence in the independent defense capabilities of the South Korean military, Lee said South Korea should and is fully capable of handling its own defense.
In the early 1950s, South Korea handed over command of its military to the U.S.-led "United Nations Command." In 1978, it was then transferred to the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, which is headed by a U.S. military officer. South Korea retook peacetime operational control of its forces in 1994, but has not yet regained wartime operational control. ■