In a call to make the nation’s armed forces stronger and more self-reliant, President Lee Jae Myung has pledged to integrate the military academies for the Army, the Navy and the Air Force to more systematically cultivate national defense talent.

Lee announced the plans Friday during an integrated commissioning ceremony, the first of its kind in nine years.

The president said South Korea’s defense capabilities are stronger than ever, the fifth-strongest in the world, noting plans to build nuclear-powered submarines based on the alliance with the United States.

Lee said the era of a truly self-reliant national defense will begin when Seoul regains wartime operational control from Washington based on pride in its own defense capabilities and takes the lead in the combined defense posture on the basis of its own military power.

Recalling former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law action in late 2024, Lee also urged the military to reflect on its mistakes at that time and to reinvent itself as a military that serves only the people.