South Korea’s Lee aims to regain wartime military control by 2030

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday reaffirmed his determination to secure wartime operational control of the country’s armed forces from the United States before his presidential term concludes in 2030, telling ministers that the transfer must proceed according to schedule. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, Lee instructed officials to expedite plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and emphasized that bolstering South Korea’s independent defense capabilities would serve to strengthen rather than undermine the decades-old alliance with Washington, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Decades of US command

Seoul ceded wartime operational control to the US-led United Nations Command during the 1950-53 Korean War, with authority later shifting to the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command upon its establishment in 1978. The government regained peacetime operational control in 1994, though Washington has retained command of South Korean forces during wartime ever since, an arrangement that has drawn renewed scrutiny as regional threats evolve.

Shifting strategic landscape

Lee’s remarks came as US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea in an apparent bid to encourage dialogue with North Korea, even as the allies launched their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills on Monday. The South Korean leader argued that assuming wartime command has become essential as modern warfare shifts toward hybrid forms and the global security environment undergoes rapid transformation.

He also called for the planned integration of South Korea’s three military academies into a single institution to proceed “without wavering.” “When the alliance is firm, the foundation for security will become stronger,” Lee said, adding that South Korea’s importance as an ally would grow as it strengthens its own capabilities.