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Defense chief vows 'utmost' efforts to retake wartime command from U.S. within Lee's term

Published: 31 Oct. 2025, 18:27

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back attends a parliamentary audit of his agency at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 30, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he has granted approval for Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine, adding the submarine will be built at shipyards in Philadelphia. [YONHAP]

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Friday he will make the "utmost" efforts to ensure the country can retake wartime operational control (Opcon) from the United States within President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term.

Ahn made the remarks after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently assessed Korea's push to retake Opcon from Washington as a "great" endeavor.

"The transition of wartime operational control will be pursued as swiftly as possible within the current administration's term through close coordination between Korea and the United States, while maintaining a strong and steadfast alliance," Ahn told reporters at an airport before heading to Malaysia for a multilateral security forum.

Ahn will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Kuala Lumpur, set for Saturday.

Seoul and Washington have been working on a conditions-based Opcon transition. Korea handed over its Opcon during the 1950-53 Korean War. It retook its peacetime Opcon in 1994, but wartime Opcon still remains in U.S. hands.

The issue is likely to be high on the agenda for talks during the annual Security Consultative Meeting between the defense chiefs of Korea and the United States, slated to take place in Seoul on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Ahn plans to discuss measures to cooperate to promote regional peace and stability at the upcoming Asean-lead security meeting. On the sidelines of the forum, he will meet with his counterparts from Japan, China, Australia and Thailand.

Yonhap