President Lee Jae-myung said, "My heart still aches," regarding the recent incident in which South Korean service members were injured by a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

At the 78th Armed Forces Day ceremony today (October 1), President Lee stated, "Thinking of our soldiers who were injured in an unexpected accident in the Demilitarized Zone not long ago, my heart still aches even now."

He added, "It reminds us once again that the ordinary days we enjoy rest upon someone else's sacrifice and danger," and said, "I pray for their swift recovery and extend my deepest words of comfort to their families."

Regarding inter-Korean relations, President Lee emphasized, "For peace on the Korean Peninsula, we must find a 'path to win together' and build mutual trust."

He explained, "Trust cannot be forged through words alone. It gradually builds only when words match actions."

He also pledged, "Our government will consistently carry out practical measures to lower military tensions between the two Koreas," adding, "Although the knots in inter-Korean relations are tangled and complex, we will patiently and step-by-step unravel them going forward."

Addressing North Korea, he said, "I hope and urge the North to now join the path toward rebuilding trust and restoring severed dialogue."

In his address, President Lee emphasized, "Today, the Republic of Korea possesses the strongest military since its founding, standing as the world's fifth-largest military power with a defense budget alone reaching 1.4 times North Korea's GDP, and a top-10 global economic powerhouse."

He also cited the latest Aegis destroyer Daeho Kim Jong-seo, which held its launching ceremony yesterday, stating, "By the mid-2030s, we will successfully achieve the construction of nuclear-powered submarines built with our own indigenous technology."

President Lee vowed, "Self-reliant defense is sovereignty itself," adding, "We will put the final period on this by regaining wartime operational control (OPCON), and together with the people, we will certainly achieve the half-century-long dream of self-reliant defense."

In particular, he noted, "President Park Chung-hee broke ground on our defense industry, urging that we build everything with our own hands starting from a single rifle. President Roh Moo-hyun pushed that dream a step further with his resolve for defense reform and wartime operational control," adding, "Looking back, self-reliant defense has never been the task or dream of any single administration."
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)