Defense Minister Kang Shincheol: "Marine Corps to Transform into an Operational Command"

Visit to Marine Corps Headquarters: "Historic Turning Point"

Minister of National Defense Kang Shincheol said on the 16th, regarding the Marine Corps’ push to reorganize into a quasi-four-service system, “We will strengthen the Marine Corps’ status and capabilities and transform it into an operational command capable of conducting modern mobile warfare.”

The Ministry of National Defense said Kang made the remarks after receiving a briefing on the progress of the initiative during a visit that day to Marine Corps Headquarters and the Northwest Islands Defense Command in Balan, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. “The Marine Corps stands at a historic turning point as it seeks to transform itself into a new force,” he said.

Minister of National Defense Kang Shincheol is seen walking with Marine Corps Commandant Ju Ilseok during a visit to Marine Corps Headquarters and the Northwest Islands Defense Command on the morning of the 16th. Photo by the Marine Corps.

The initiative is also in line with the government’s push to reorganize the Marine Corps into a quasi-four-service system. On December 18, 2025, President Lee Jaemyung instructed the Ministry of National Defense during a policy briefing to “consider moving toward a quasi-four-service system for the Marine Corps.” On December 31 that year, the ministry announced a plan to reorganize the Marine Corps into a quasi-four-service system and began working to transfer operational control of the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions from the Army, which currently holds it, to the Marine Corps.

Successive governments have repeatedly raised the need to strengthen the Marine Corps’ status by making it independent, either as a quasi-fourth service or as a full fourth service. In 2022, then-presidential candidate Yoon Sukyeol also made this a campaign pledge in an effort to win the support of Marine Corps personnel, but it came to nothing beyond rhetoric. Under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Marine Corps took over authority over personnel and budget planning from the Navy. In 2019, under the Moon Jae-in administration, the Military Personnel Management Act was amended to establish a legal basis for the Marine Corps commandant, a three-star lieutenant general, to be promoted to four-star general after completing his term.

However, criticism has persisted that effective policies to strengthen the Marine Corps’ status have not been implemented, as the distorted command structure—under which operational control of the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions has remained with the Army since 1973—has not changed.

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