President Lee Jae-myung Salutes at Gyeryongdae on Armed Forces Day

President Lee Jae-myung saluted at the 78th Armed Forces Day ceremony held at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province on the 1st, then boarded an inspection vehicle to review the troops. According to Yonhap News, Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul attended the ceremony at Gyeryongdae that day.

In his commemorative address, President Lee called on North Korea to join in restoring inter-Korean trust and reviving severed dialogue.

He also declared that the return of wartime operational control (the authority to independently command forces in war) would put the finishing touch on self-reliant national defense, and announced plans to push forward the establishment of a Korea Armed Forces Academy and to transition to an officer-centered force structure through a selective conscription system.

President Lee said his administration will push policies to improve service conditions, including a substantial increase in the base pay of junior officers and incentives for short-term service noncommissioned officers starting next year.

The day before the ceremony, on September 30, he visited the Armed Forces Capital Hospital to comfort hospitalized service members, wishing a speedy recovery to those injured in the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and consoling their families.