President Lee Stresses Self-Reliant Defense, Says Military Command Must Be Exercised Independently

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung received policy briefings from foreign policy and national security ministries this morning (August 5). Emphasizing that self-reliant defense is the ultimate goal, President Lee repeatedly made clear his firm resolve to retake wartime operational control.

Here is reporter Kim Jeongyun.

[Reporter]

This morning's presidential policy briefings brought together foreign affairs and security ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

In his opening remarks, President Lee repeatedly clarified his determination to recover wartime operational control within his term.

[President Lee Jae-myung : Self-reliant defense is our greatest task. Naturally, we must exercise military command—which is a part of sovereignty—by ourselves.]

President Lee emphasized that South Korea must continue to pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence with North Korea, however difficult it may be.

He expressed regret over foreign policy and national security issues, such as the restoration of the September 19 military agreement and the peaceful two-state theory, becoming subjects of partisan political strife.

[President Lee Jae-myung : Regrettably, our most critical foreign policy and national security issues become targets of political strife.]

At the same time, he called for a thoroughly strict national defense posture, pointing to recent controversies such as frontline troops performing guard duty without ammunition loaded in their firearms.

[President Lee Jae-myung : Avoiding accidents by unloading to prevent mistakes might make sense in everyday life. But national defense is different.]

President Lee also instructed authorities to review the introduction of mail-in voting first, depending on the conditions of each country, to guarantee the voting rights of overseas citizens.

This afternoon, President Lee is scheduled to receive policy briefings from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and others.

(Video reporting: Jeong Sang-bo, Ha Ryung | Video editing: Lee Seung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.