South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stated that the US must transfer full operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul in the event of war, as reported by infohub.kz.
The head of state emphasized that "restoring wartime operational control should be part of efforts to further strengthen national defense capabilities amid rapid changes in the global security environment and the evolution of warfare toward hybrid warfare."
The transfer of operational control should be completed before the end of the president's term in 2030, as originally planned by the government.
As Yonhap news agency notes, Lee Jae-myung brought up this initiative after US President Donald Trump reduced the time for joint South Korean-US military exercises in South Korea, citing his good relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The article clarifies that South Korea transferred operational command to the UN Command led by the US during the Korean War of 1950-1953. In 1978, it was transferred to the then-created Combined Forces Command of South Korea and the US. Seoul regained operational command in peacetime in 1994, but wartime operational command remains with the US.
It is worth noting that earlier it became known that US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to reduce the scale of joint US-South Korea exercises due to "good relations" with Kim Jong-un.