South Korea's Opposition Slams President Lee Over Military Academy Integration Comments

SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday criticized President Lee Jae Myung for suggesting that the Korea Military Academy was at the center of the country's past military coups. During a policy briefing by the defense ministry the previous day, Lee called for the swift integration of military academies, pointing out that graduates of the Army academy had been behind all of the country's military coups in the past and warning about the risk of another coup by Army elites.

"(Lee's comments) are akin to labeling the current and future cadets as a potential coup force," Rep. Han Ki-ho told reporters at the National Assembly. Five-term lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun criticized Lee for using past incidents as grounds to hold the Korea Military Academy and its graduates accountable, saying it undermines the rule of law.

"The president's remarks have prompted questions over whether an overhaul of the military academies is politically motivated retaliation against the Korea Military Academy based on a few past incidents rather than strengthening joint operations," he wrote on Facebook. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok also echoed the concerns, calling Lee's comments some of the "most outrageous remarks" ever made.

"The president has been talking about strengthening cooperation and fostering integrated military talents, but what he ultimately said was integrating military academies will reduce the possibility of coups," Rep. Jang said during a meeting of the party's supreme council. "He is not qualified as the commander-in-chief."

The defense ministry has been seeking to establish an integrated military academy by combining academies of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, a move that followed former President Yoon Suk Yeol's 2024 martial law declaration. Yoon's botched martial law involved then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, a Korea Military Academy graduate.