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| President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with new Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo with Jeong's predecessor Gen. Lee Sun-jin standing behind him during a transfer-of-command ceremony at the Ministry of National Defense, Sunday. / Yonhap |
By Choi Ha-young
President Moon Jae-in says he fully backs the South Korean military's efforts to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) from the U.S. military.
"I will spare no efforts to help the military retake wartime OPCON from the U.S.," Moon said on Sunday in a transfer-of-command ceremony for new Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo and outgoing Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin.
Moon reaffirmed his intention to bolster the military's self-defense capabilities.
"I will fully exert my presidential authority to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and achieve self-defense capabilities," he said.
Retaking wartime OPCON was among Moon's core presidential campaign pledges. This was included in the Moon administration's five-year policy roadmap unveiled last month.
South Korea once pushed for an OPCON transfer under former President Roh Moo-hyun (2004-08) but Roh's conservative successor Lee Myung-bak delayed the plan.
Moon is the first President to attend the transfer-of-command ceremony for the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which reflects his determination to build a strong military, according to his aides.
At the event held at the Ministry of National Defense, Moon also mentioned a "three-axis defense platform" as a measure to monitor and deter Pyongyang's so-called asymmetric warfare capabilities.
The platform is composed of the Kill Chain preemptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) strategy.
Gen. Jeong received the National Assembly's confirmation Friday. At the parliamentary hearing, Jeong vowed to strengthen South Korea's counter-fire capacity against the North, while rejecting calls to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula.
Observers viewed Moon's pick for an Air Force general to head the JCS for the first time in 23 years as reflecting his desire to seek better balance between the Army, Navy and Air Force.
As a measure to reform the Army-dominated structure, the President appointed retired Navy Admiral Song Young-moo as defense minister.
To honor Gen. Lee, who retired after 42 years' military service, the President presented him with a round-trip flight ticket to Canada. Lee's daughter lives in Canada, but Lee and his wife have never had a chance to visit her there.
Meanwhile in his speech, the President offered his condolences to the families of two soldiers killed and five injured in an explosion of a K-9 self-propelled howitzer during a firing exercise on Friday.
"Not to make their sacrifices empty, the government will fully reveal the cause of the accident and provide reasonable compensation for the soldiers' families," Moon said.
