Service Academy Chiefs Effectively Voice Opposition to Merger

National Assembly Defense Committee Holds First Separate Audit of Military Academies

Attendees from institutions under audit, including Korea Military Academy Superintendent Park Huseong (front row, left), take an oath during the National Assembly Defense Committee's audit of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies at the Korea Military Academy on the 22nd. Yonhap News

The chiefs of the military academies effectively voiced opposition to integrating the academies. They did not express support for a merger, saying efforts to strengthen jointness are already sufficient.

Park Huseong, superintendent of the Korea Military Academy (KMA) and an Army lieutenant general, said on October 22 of the proposed integration of the military academies, "I hope it will proceed after the master plan is supplemented, various opinions are gathered, and a consensus is formed." This was the first time the National Assembly's National Defense Committee had held a separate audit of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies. Audits of the academies, which are directly subordinate units of their respective service headquarters, had previously been conducted in Gyeryongdae alongside audits of the service headquarters.

Appearing as a witness at the National Defense Committee's audit of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies at the KMA in Nowon-gu, Seoul, Park said, "Innovation and change in academy education are necessary, but I understand the concerns of cadets and faculty members." He added, "We have continued to make recommendations through the official chain of command," and stressed, "We will continue to make these recommendations as needed during the process of fleshing out the plans for the academies."

When Min Hong-cheol of the Democratic Party of Korea asked whether Park's failure to respond to the National Assembly's written questions about integration meant he opposed it, Park said, "It is not appropriate for a superintendent on the ground to offer opinions on policies being pursued by the Ministry of National Defense," adding, "That does not mean I oppose it." He said he agreed that integration "could help strengthen jointness," but emphasized, "Even with the academies currently operating separately, we are making sufficient efforts to strengthen jointness."

Regarding President Lee Jae-myung's remarks about the "KMA's responsibility for coups," Park said, "It was deeply wrong that some politically motivated military officers who graduated from the KMA committed historical errors. However, the vast majority of KMA graduates have quietly devoted themselves to the country and the military, both in the past and today, at posts across the front and rear."

Park Heung-jae, superintendent of the Korea Air Force Academy and an Air Force lieutenant general, appeared as a witness at the audit and said, "Integrated education can indeed help strengthen jointness, but it should be implemented without undermining expertise or institutional identity." Park Gyubaek, superintendent of the Korea Naval Academy and a Navy lieutenant general, said, "The expected effects of integration on jointness should be assessed through both quantitative and qualitative analyses."

At the audit, the ruling party argued that the integration of the military academies, a campaign pledge of President Lee Jae-myung, should be pursued swiftly. The opposition opposed the plan, citing doubts about its effectiveness and concerns that it could weaken expertise. Kim Byung-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea, a special adviser to the president on defense policy, stressed, "The integration of the military academies was not pursued only by the Lee Jae-myung administration; nearly every administration since the Korean War has pursued it. Integrating the military academies is a demand of the times."

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