President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap) President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday instructed officials to accelerate efforts to fulfill South Korea's plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.The president made the call during a Cabinet meeting, highlighting the need to enhance the country's self-defense capabilities amid North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats.In a fact sheet released after a South Korea-US summit late last year, Washington expressed support for Seoul to build nuclear-powered, conventionally armed attack submarines, and to pursue civilian uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful purposes."We need to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and drone technologies, while speeding up the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, which are core strategic assets for future defense capabilities," Lee said.Lee also stressed the need for the swift transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul during the meeting.The president insisted that "friends will respect us and alliances will be maintained more strongly" when the country demonstrates its determination to defend itself, calling for the transfer of OPCON in a swift and timely manner.Regaining wartime OPCON from Washington is a key policy pledge of Lee, who seeks to complete the transfer during his five-year term ending in 2030.South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the US-led UN Command during the 1950-53 Korean War. It was then transferred to the Combined Forces Command of South Korea and the United States when it was launched in 1978. South Korea retook only peacetime operational control in 1994.At Tuesday's meeting, Lee also called for all-out efforts to turn the military into a "powerful, future-oriented and cutting-edge" force, stressing the need to upgrade defense capabilities amid what he called the "harsh reality" of the international community where power takes precedence.The president also called for efforts to strengthen the country's "K-defense" industry and foster new defense companies to lead global markets in the robotics, drone and space sectors, while stressing the need to solidify multilateral diplomacy."It would be very important to work toward building peace so as to prevent wars from breaking out," Lee said, emphasizing the importance of fostering multilateral security networks. (Yonhap)