Lee hails peace as ‘surest form of security’ on Korean Peninsula

President Lee Jae Myung salutes the troops at a ceremony marking Armed Forces Day on Oct. 1, 2026. (Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday that Korea is committed to successfully building a nuclear-powered submarine with its own technology by the mid-2030s.

Lee made the comments while delivering a message on Korea’s 78th Armed Forces Day at the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong Province.

“Autonomous defense is sovereignty itself,” Lee said.

Lee said that Korea would finally achieve “the dream of autonomous defense,” which it has been pursuing for half a century, by regaining wartime operational control (OPCON) of the Korean military.

Lee also offered consoling words to Korean service members injured when mines exploded during operations in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) last month.

“My heart still aches when I think of the service members injured in that unfortunate accident in the DMZ,” he said.

“It reminds us once again that our everyday lives depend on the dangers faced by other people. I wish them a speedy recovery and extend my deepest sympathies to their families.”

Lee went on to emphasize peace.

“Peace and prosperity in this land are not something others make for us; we must make them for ourselves,” he said.

“The surest form of security is creating a situation in which fighting is unnecessary — peace, in other words. South and North Korea must work on building confidence and finding a win-win path to peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

He went on: “Confidence isn’t built upon a single statement. It’s built little by little when words match actions. The government will steadily take practical steps to reduce military tensions with North Korea.”

Lee also said that “although inter-Korean relations are tied up in an intricate knot, our government will work patiently and methodically to untie that knot.”

“We hope the North will join us on the path toward restoring trust and resuming dialogue. Indeed, we urge them to do so,” he said.

Lee also laid out his vision for defense reform.

“We will advance artificial intelligence and manned-unmanned teaming systems, restructure the military accordingly, and redesign our overall defense posture to make the leap to a smart, elite and powerful military,” the president said.

Lee also pledged to upgrade Korea’s “three-axis” defense system to “improve our ability to quickly detect, intercept and neutralize missile threats.”

He stressed that Korea would accelerate the development of future-oriented military capabilities — including high-energy laser interception weapons, AI-based command-and-control systems, and high-powered missiles — to dramatically strengthen the military’s deterrence and response capabilities.

Lee also spoke of the need to establish a “combined military academy for the future of warfare that can train world-class elite officers capable of conducting joint operations.” He asked officials to “hear a range of views and build consensus for moving swiftly and boldly to establish an academy for all branches of the military.”

The president said the government would give new military recruits more options to increase the number of technically skilled noncommissioned officers and reorganize military manpower around career service members.

“Young people will be able to choose how they serve — either as enlisted personnel with a shorter service period or as technically skilled noncommissioned officers who serve longer but have more opportunities to plan for their future education and employment,” he said.

Lee also addressed the military’s duty to remain politically neutral.

“I am confident that our armed forces, as our nation’s military, will uphold the Constitution and maintain political neutrality while devoting themselves to their fundamental mission of protecting the lives and safety of the people,” he said.

“My administration has been reckoning with the lingering remnants of the [previous president’s] illegal declaration of martial law. Regrettably, we have had to hold some members of the military responsible, while overhauling military intelligence agencies — including the Defense Counterintelligence Command and the Defense Intelligence Command — to reinforce their democratic and institutional foundations.”

“We will continue to instill our armed forces with the culture and institutions required to ensure they focus on their proper duties so they will never, ever, be involved in an insurrection again,” Lee said.

“I ask our commanders, in particular, to make every effort, however painful, to swiftly restore the public’s trust in the military and to restore its honor.”

Notably, neither Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de nor People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok attended the Armed Forces Day ceremony on Thursday, even though both attended last year’s event.