Unified military academy plan to gather public input until October details released

Following the government's announcement of a basic plan to establish a four-year Korea Armed Forces Academy merging the Army, Navy and Air Force academies, authorities will hold public hearings and other consultations to gather opinions before releasing a detailed plan in October.

According to political sources Sunday, the Ministry of National Defense is reviewing plans to hold the first public hearing on the new academy next month. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, agencies seeking to hold a public hearing must announce it at least 14 days in advance. Such hearings may be convened for measures that have broad public impact and require wide-ranging input.

Once a hearing is held, debate is expected to intensify over one of the key sticking points: which year the academy will admit its first class. A Defense Ministry official said the ministry would "give prospective cadets ample time to consider their options" and would "proceed with public consultations and hearings with that in mind."

Winning over the alumni associations of the three existing academies — which have been at the center of opposition to the merger — will also be a major challenge. The joint alumni association issued a statement calling the planned relocation of the Korea Military Academy from its current site at Hwarangdae in Taereung "a textbook act of retaliation driven by purely political calculations that we cannot accept under any circumstances." The association added that it would rally alongside security organizations, civic groups, religious bodies, active-duty and reserve service members, and parents of current cadets to mount a full-scale resistance.

With the opposition bloc's strong pushback turning the academy merger into a political flashpoint, attention is also focused on how the legislative process for a bill establishing the Korea Armed Forces Academy will unfold.

Jin Sung-jun, chair of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Friday on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Morning Focus" that the goal is to pass the relevant legislation by the end of this year and begin enrolling students in March 2028.

"The party and the government plan to complete the legislation by the end of this year," Jin said. "Once the legislation is in place, the academy will begin its first semester in March 2028."

On whether to divide the four years into two years of common education and two years of service-specific training — the so-called "2+2" model — Jin said the final structure remains open. "Whether 2+2 is right, or 1+3, or 3+1 — we will settle that after hearing from experts," he said. "The four-year framework is certain; the breakdown is still being worked out."

Asked whether the restructuring was retaliatory toward the Korea Military Academy in the wake of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law incident, Jin pushed back. "If this were about retaliation, we would be breaking up the Army academy — why would we be merging all three branches?" he said.

The People Power Party, meanwhile, voiced its opposition. Park Sung-hoon, the party's chief spokesperson, said in a statement that "the government and the ruling party are pushing ahead with the effective abolition of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies and the creation of a unified Korea Armed Forces Academy without broad public consensus or sufficient deliberation within the military."

Hong Jun-pyo, former mayor of Daegu, said on social media that "maximizing and specializing the combat capabilities of each branch is a far more urgent matter than merging the three academies."

Hong added that he "had thought former President Moon Jae-in was the only leader of a five-year administration to undermine national defense, but the Lee Jae Myung administration is following the same path." He called on the government to "exercise restraint and open its ears to the voices of the people."