Public hearing on unified military academy draws fierce clashes over W3tr plan

A public hearing convened by the Ministry of National Defense on the creation of a unified military academy descended into shouting and profanity for four straight hours, yet still produced a sharp clash of arguments between supporters and opponents of merging the Army, Navy and Air Force academies.

The hearing, held Wednesday afternoon at the National Defense Convention Center in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, drew more than 300 attendees — including Defense Ministry officials, cadets and alumni veterans from each of the three service academies, and members of the general public. Outside the venue, rival groups of supporters and opponents gathered separately, adding to the tension.

Experts speaking in favor of the merger — including Choi Young-jin, a professor at Chung-Ang University; Du Jin-ho, head of the Eurasia Center at the Korea Institute for Strategic Studies; and retired Air Force Brigadier General Jin Ho-young — argued that consolidation was justified by the need to strengthen jointness, adapt to evolving future warfare, prepare for the transfer of wartime operational control, respond to a sharp decline in the school-age population driven by the demographic cliff, and expand investment in the academies through economies of scale.

Choi said satisfaction with the current military academy curriculum stood at only 20 to 30 percent, which he called "truly dismal compared to civilian universities." He added that if the unified academy were relocated to Jaun-dae rather than remaining in Seoul, academic performance was expected to decline, and a plan to address that would be needed. Throughout the pro-merger presentations, jeers and profanity from the audience were unrelenting.

Opponents — including Kim Se-jin, secretary-general of Future Thinking; retired Navy Colonel Jo Gi-hong; and retired Air Force Brigadier General Kang Byung-chul — focused their criticism on concerns about weakening military professionalism and institutional identity, insufficient public deliberation and scrutiny, and what they described as a politically motivated push for consolidation.

"Forcing through the merger of the military academies without even minimal scrutiny, while ignoring the voices of cadets and active-duty officers, is not reform," Kim said. "A consolidation without justification is not reform — it is destruction."

Park Pan-jun, chairman of the Korea Military Academy General Alumni Association, took the podium and said the closure of the academies was being handled "like thugs doing business," warning that the effort would amount to nothing more than a waste of budget and national resources.

Lee Beom-rim, chairman of the Naval Academy General Alumni Association, warned Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back directly: "Do not become a sinner of history."

Jeers and profanity from academy alumni continued even as Kim Hong-chul, director of the Defense Ministry's defense policy bureau, attempted to explain the policy. At one point, an exasperated Kim shot back: "Please don't swear. If you want to swear, do it after we're done."

One retired colonel took the podium and attempted to physically block the Defense Ministry's policy presentation, nearly coming to blows with ministry officials before the situation was brought under control.

Yun Gwang-ung, who served as defense minister under President Roh Moo-hyun, said merging the academies would concentrate the production of the core officer corps in a single institution, which could paradoxically threaten civilian control of the military. He said the minister should communicate frankly with the president to ease the political burden and that suspending the consolidation push would be the right course.

Lee Gi-sik, a former commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration and retired Navy vice admiral, said the ministry was rushing to implement an imperfect plan without first exhausting reforms possible within the existing system. "The cadets will end up as the only sacrificial lambs of this policy," he said.

Cadets themselves also spoke out against the plan. A second-year Korea Military Academy cadet (85th class) asked what objective evidence existed that the current academy education system was failing to instill a proper national military identity, and questioned whether jointness could not be strengthened without a full merger. A first-year cadet (86th class) argued that aging facilities were no justification for consolidating the academies.

In response, Director Kim said the decision to pursue consolidation had been reached after comprehensively weighing changes in the school-age population, military restructuring, the nature of future warfare and the transfer of wartime operational control. "We will develop policy measures to minimize any harm to you, the cadets," he said.