(ATTN: UPDATES with additional details in last 5 paras; RECASTS 2nd para)

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to regaining wartime operational control (OPCON) of troops from the United States before his term ends, stressing the importance of self-reliant defense capabilities.

The president reiterated the commitment during a Cabinet meeting, saying the OPCON transfer should be completed during his term, which will end in 2030, as the government initially planned.

The president also instructed officials to speed up the implementation of a project to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, saying that independent defense capabilities and a strong alliance between Seoul and Washington should complement each other.

South Korea handed over OPCON to the U.S.-led U.N. Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was then transferred to the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command when the command was launched in 1978. Seoul retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON still remains in U.S. hands.

Lee's renewed call for OPCON transfer came after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he had instructed the Pentagon to "substantially" reduce joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises, in an apparent overture for dialogue with Pyongyang, which has long accused the joint drills of being war rehearsals. Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual summertime joint drills, Ulchi Freedom Shield, on Monday.

Lee said that regaining wartime OPCON should be pursued as part of efforts to further strengthen national defense capabilities amid a rapid change in the global security environment and the evolving nature of warfare toward hybrid warfare.

To prepare for future warfare, military leaders with comprehensive operational capabilities should also be nurtured, the president insisted, instructing officials to implement "without wavering" the planned integration of the three military academies of the armed services into a single institution.

"When the alliance is firm, the foundation for security will become stronger, while our value and importance as an ally will grow as we strengthen our own capabilities," Lee said.

pbr@yna.co.kr

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