Defense Minister Meets Academy Alumni Over Integration Plan
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back meets military academy alumni groups to seek support for the government's push to merge the academies into a single institution.
Quick Look
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back met with Army, Navy, and Air Force academy alumni associations in Seoul to discuss the government's contested plan to integrate the institutions into a single National Military Academy.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The government is pushing to integrate the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies into a single National Military Academy to address demographic changes and evolving warfare.
By Kim Hyun-soo
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back met with the alumni groups of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies Wednesday to seek their support for the government's push to integrate the academies into a single institution, the defense ministry said.
Ahn met with the presidents of the alumni associations of the Korea Military Academy, Republic of Korea Naval Academy and the Republic of Korea Air Force Academy at the defense ministry compound in Seoul, according to the ministry.
The move comes after the alumni groups staged a massive rally protesting the integration plan, calling on the government to immediately halt its push to merge the academies and to review the plan from scratch.
The Lee Jae Myung government has said the integration plan seeks to pool talented future cadets amid a demographic cliff and better respond to evolving warfare.
The drive for the tentatively named "National Military Academy" has faced strong opposition from the armed forces, which argue each military service requires specialized training tailored to their distinct operational environment.
Following the meeting, the alumni associations claimed that the defense minister had pledged to review maintaining the current military academy system during its push for educational reform.
However, the ministry denied Ahn had made such comments, noting he had merely vowed to listen to various perspectives with an "open mind."
"The defense ministry will take into account various views raised in the process to achieve the best possible reform of military academy education, with the establishment of the National Military Academy as its basic premise," the ministry said in a press notice.
Kim Hong-cheol, deputy defense minister for policy, has said the ministry is reviewing a plan to use profits from the sell of idle land in the relocation process, as well as state funds, to finance the new military academy, estimating the total cost at over 3 trillion won (US$2.1 billion), in an interview with local media.
The ministry plans to hold a public hearing later this month and unveil a detailed plan for the new academy around October.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Ministry to hold public hearing later this month
Very likely · Within weeks
Detailed plan for the new academy to be unveiled around October
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Will the ministry make concessions during the upcoming public hearing?
- How will the armed forces respond to the final October plan?
