Kang Shin-cheol "I'm more concerned about the location of the military academy"... Review of maintenance of maritime and construction facilities

Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-cheol, who has been reviewing ways to supplement the establishment of the Armed Forces Academy, which provides integrated education for cadets at the Army, Navy, and Air Force Academy, said on the 9th, "Unless we move to an integrated military, education for each service must clearly exist."

Minister Kang said this at a meeting with the alumni presidents of each military academy held at the Ministry of National Defense building in Seoul this morning, saying, “What I am saying clearly is that we are absolutely not saying that each military academy will be closed.”

In particular, Minister Kang said, “We will consider the location issue by receiving more opinions.”

As if aware of the concerns of the Maritime Academy Alumni Association regarding the absorption of the Jinhae Naval Academy (Maritime Academy) into the Daejeon Jaundae Integrated Military Academy, he said, "I completely sympathize with you. We need the sea," and added, "We can't leave that system."

Minister Kang's mention of 'concern over the location issue' appears to have suggested a revision to the existing government's plan to establish a 'Armed Military Academy' integrating the army, navy, and construction at Jaundae and train cadets there for four years.

It has been reported that the Ministry of National Defense has been reviewing ways to supplement the existing basic plan for establishing the Armed Forces Academy by collecting opinions from within the military since Minister Kang took office last September.

In particular, in the case of Navy and Air Force cadets, it is known that they are considering maintaining some of the existing maritime and construction facilities in Jinhae and Cheongju, respectively, and allowing them to receive military-specific training.

At the time of announcing the basic plan last July, the Ministry of National Defense outlined a plan to provide basic training for four years at Jaundae in Daejeon, but to utilize external facilities such as Cheongju Corporation Airfield and Pyeongtaek 2nd Fleet for some specialized training.

Compared to this, it appears that the government is preparing a compromise plan to preserve the framework of military-specific education that was previously conducted at each military academy.

However, if this is pursued, what to do with the military academy located in Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul will likely remain an issue. There are many observations within the military that even if maritime and construction facilities remain, relocation of military affairs to regional areas will be inevitable.

At the meeting that day, Minister Kang repeatedly expressed his view that expertise in each military branch is absolutely necessary.

In response to the Alumni Association's claim that 'Once the Armed Forces Academy is established, the Army, Navy, and Construction will disappear,' he said, "The school name will not disappear," and "You can receive a certificate of completion and diploma from each school."

However, he also emphasized the need to establish a military academy for quality education, saying, "(Graduated cadets) must lead the future, so if each military academy trains these people, the military academy needs to raise their level. To be a good school, you need good professors," and "It must be a graduate school at the master's and doctorate level."

In addition, he said that we need to create “a wonderful military school where people learn how to ask questions, find answers, and graduate” and added, “In some ways, it could be a network type.”

The '2+2' network type, which provides integrated education for army, navy, and construction cadets in the lower grades, and provides in-depth major education at military academies in the upper grades, is a plan that was previously reviewed in research projects related to the integration of military academies by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes (KIDA).

Meanwhile, on this day, the Military Academy Alumni Association strongly protested, saying, "I wonder why the Military Academy is so anxious that they cannot be kicked out of Taereung," and added, "If (the integration policy) is later invalidated again, we are preparing to hold those responsible responsible to the end of legal and administrative responsibility and take all possible measures, including a request for an audit and a claim for damages, if necessary."

The Korea Military Academy Alumni Association also delivered a letter to Minister Kang that said it was written by a cadet.

The Maritime Affairs Alumni Association said, "Moving the maritime affairs department into the mountains (Daejeon Jaundae) is like cutting off the roots of the navy. The maritime affairs department can never leave the sea." The Corporation Alumni Association also pointed out that “(in Cheongju) we are maintaining an aerospace specialized education system optimized for a four-year course,” and that “if we move to another location, inefficiency and financial waste are inevitable.”