Appearing for an unscheduled, casual press conference, President Lee Jae Myung on Monday took time to touch upon various issues. He in particular pointedly said that Korea should "reclaim" wartime operational control (OPCON) at "an early date." "And we are fully capable of doing so," he added. His wording choice of "reclaim" was stronger than "transfer." Lee's comments came likely in response to a series of comments made by U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson last week. Speaking at an Indo-Pacific Summit held Oct. 14 (local time) in Washington, D.C., Brunson hinted that OPCON transfer may take time. "Because the conditions have changed, because we've changed our plan, we have new standards which we have to uphold," Brunson said, adding that while he supported the transfer, "we don't have the benefit of changing the conditions to time." Following the USFK commander's comment, the defense ministry conveyed Seoul's concern even as it maintained that "the principle that OPCON will be transferred once the conditions mutually agreed upon by Korea and the United States are