President Lee: "As the battlefield changes, officer training must change too"... Reaffirms military academy integration

"The key to integrating the academies is to develop talent who can lead future warfare"
Resolve to establish a Korean Armed Forces Academy

President Lee Jaemyung reaffirmed his commitment to integrating the Army, Navy and Air Force academies, stressing the need to reform the officer training system to prepare for future warfare amid controversy over the plan. His vision is to train personnel capable of conducting joint operations across the services, as advanced weapons systems such as drones, lasers and robots are breaking down traditional boundaries between them.

President Lee Jaemyung listens to a presentation at the public briefing on the Korea Green Transformation (K-GX) strategy, held at a venue in Seoul on Oct. 7, 2026. Yonhap News Agency

On X (formerly Twitter), Lee asked, "Which service can claim the drones that are changing the face of the battlefield as its own weapons? The Army? The Navy? The Air Force?" He then said, "Drones, lasers and robots are already crossing the boundaries between the Army, Navy and Air Force."

"As the battlefield has changed, so too must the way we train officers," he said, stressing that "the key to integrating the academies is to cultivate talent capable of leading future warfare." He added, "The government will build an Armed Forces Academy in the form best suited to the Republic of Korea's security environment."

Integrating the academies is one of Lee's presidential campaign pledges and a government policy priority. The government is pursuing a plan to merge the existing Army, Navy and Air Force academies and establish a four-year Armed Forces Academy at Jaun University in Daejeon.

In a commemorative address on Oct. 1 for the 78th Armed Forces Day, Lee had also said, "We must establish an Armed Forces Academy to prepare for future warfare and train world-class elite officers with joint operational capabilities." He added, "I urge you to listen to a range of views, unite the military, and work swiftly and boldly to establish the Armed Forces Academy."

However, controversy over integrating the academies continues. The alumni associations of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies, among others, have opposed the plan, saying it could weaken the expertise of each service and is being pursued without sufficient public discussion. The Ministry of National Defense, meanwhile, plans to maintain the establishment of an Armed Forces Academy as its basic policy while gathering a range of views and pursuing education reform.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.