South Korea accelerates military self-reliance over Trump’s ‘unpredictability’
US President Donald Trump’s abrupt move to scale back annual military drills with South Korea has handed President Lee Jae Myung a fresh impetus for greater defence self-reliance even as he seeks to maintain the long-standing alliance. Lee on Tuesday called for accelerated efforts to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from the United States and build nuclear-powered…
US President Donald Trump's decision to reduce annual military drills with South Korea has provided President Lee Jae Myung with an opportunity to push for greater military self-reliance. Lee called for accelerated efforts to regain wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the United States and to develop nuclear-powered submarines.
Analysts noted that Trump's unpredictability has given Lee more strategic flexibility. South Korea's defense spending is equivalent to 1.4 times North Korea's GDP, and the country ranks among the world's top five military powers. Lee emphasized the need to further upgrade operational capabilities and stressed the importance of maintaining the alliance with the US while strengthening South Korea's defense capabilities.
Washington has agreed to cooperate with Seoul on building nuclear-powered attack submarines, and the US agreed to provide the necessary reactor fuel and address civil-military nuclear coordination. However, some analysts are concerned that Trump's inconsistent policies may undermine key projects, such as OPCON transfer and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, which require US cooperation.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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